Merry Christmas, Mr Robbins
by Kahva
Summary: It's the second Christmas that Dan Robbins and Mike Stone have been partners, and Mike wants Dan to come celebrate with him, Jeannie and Steve. But Christmas isn't a happy time of the year for Dan, and it's up to Mike to help Dan find joy in the holiday again.
1. Chapter 1

Merry Christmas, Mr. Robbins

by

Kahva

**_Disclaimer:_**_ I don't own anybody or anything with The Streets of San Francisco. I'll only lay claim to my own craziness and a love of good TV. The only characters I own are the ones I have created._

**_Author's Note:_**_ This fic takes place after the end of the fifth season, during Christmas 1977._

Mike wasn't sure what made him respond to the call. It was Christmas Eve and he was heading home early, eager to see Jeannie and let her know that yes, in addition to having invited Steve, he was going to once again try to convince Dan to join them for Christmas this year. Steve had been easier to convince all those years ago on that first Christmas as partners. But last Christmas, the first one Mike had been partnered with him, Dan had politely declined, saying that he had already made plans.

Mike had found out from another officer about a week later that Dan's plans apparently had been to have a late lunch at one of the few restaurants open on Christmas Day, all alone, and "looking lost", as the man had put it. It made Mike wonder if Dan had been stood up by a date that day and hadn't felt like he could take Mike up on his offer at the last minute. Well, Mr. Daniel Robbins had another thought coming if he believed that this year! Mike firmly believed that no one should be alone on Christmas if it could be helped, so he was going to make sure that Dan was with someone, somewhere on Christmas Day, even if he had to enlist Jeannie and Steve both to help him kidnap his young partner if he couldn't be otherwise persuaded.

Dan had left even earlier than Mike, so he hadn't had the chance to invite Dan yet for Christmas this year. Mike had decided to drive by Dan's home to ask face to face rather than call. He figured it would be harder for Dan to refuse an in person invitation, plus Mike would be better able to determine if his partner was trying to hide something if he turned him down again this year. Mike was only a few minutes away from Dan's house when the call came about a break in at a small charity organization's building. It wasn't too far out of the way from Dan's so for reasons he couldn't explain, Mike found himself automatically heading to the address to see if anyone needed assistance. There would probably be black and whites already on the scene and they wouldn't need him, but he felt drawn to go anyway. As he made the corner he noticed Dan's Bronco parked in front of the building but no units yet, and Mike wondered if Dan had heard the call as well. It would be just like the young Inspector to help out if he had heard the call on the scanner he kept in his vehicle and had been close by. But if Dan was already working the scene, Mike couldn't see him anywhere.

What he did see though sent a chill down his spine. There was a woman in the doorway of the non-profit crying and screaming, holding an older man who looked to be about her age and trying to get him into the building – it looked like he'd been knocked down or had fallen, he was holding his left knee with one hand. In front of the building there was a young man lying on the ground, curled up and holding his stomach. _Good Lord, is that Dan?_ Mike thought briefly. He couldn't get a good look, the man wasn't facing in Mike's direction, but the dark-haired fellow on the ground resembled his partner from a distance, he thought. But the scene a few feet away was even more chilling. There were two other young men, both wearing ski masks, both armed with what looked like crowbars, fighting with Santa Claus. At least, someone in a Santa suit, and someone who knew how to defend themselves rather well as he was keeping both assailants at bay without a weapon of his own in sight. Sirens cut through the air, backup would be there in less than a minute. "Santa" took advantage of the distraction and landed a hard right uppercut to the jaw of one would-be crook who went down with an audible groan, he was not getting up again under his own power anytime soon. The Santa then managed to grab the crowbar the second crook was holding and yank it out of his hands, tossing it to the side, but at a cost – the second man had the chance to pull out a handgun in that brief moment, and it was pointed straight at Santa's chest.

The whole thing had happened in less time than it took for Mike to stop the tan LTD and pull his own weapon. "Freeze, police!" he yelled, hoping the crook would have the sense to drop his gun and not hurt whoever was in the Santa suit. "Santa shot on Christmas Eve" was not the headline he wanted to see in tomorrow's paper, or the image he wanted to go to bed with that night.

The Santa seemed just as surprised to see Mike standing there as the gunman was, but the gunman wasn't about to give up a hostage. "You stay right there or Santa gets a hole in his suit!" he yelled, motioning for the Santa to put his hands up. "Santa" complied, slowly raising his hands up to shoulder height. Mike watched the Santa, he was slowly moving towards the street, just a few steps, giving Mike some breathing room should he need to take a shot.

_Good man, whoever you are,_ Mike thought. "You don't want to do this, especially not on Christmas Eve, son," Mike called out to the gunman, hoping to reason with him. "Don't make this worse on yourself."

"Hah!" the gunman snorted. "Do you think I'm scared of you, Stone? Yeah, I know you, you busted me and my guys last year for killing that old lady. I still remember where you live Stone, you make a move and old Santa here gets to go back to the North Pole in a body bag! Then I'll go to your place, maybe your daughter will be home this time – I didn't get to say hi to her last year! I wanted a Valentine's Day date!"

Mike fought not to let his anger show, recognizing the young crook's voice at last. Henry Brown, leader of the Jackals, the whole lot of them arrested almost two years ago as Mike's memory served for robbery, and for murder in the death of one Mrs. Helen King. Mike remembered seeing the report come across his desk a few weeks ago, a prison van taking Brown and two others to court had wrecked. One prisoner was seriously injured, the other two had escaped. One had been caught within minutes, but the other, Henry, had gotten away. _Well now we know where he is,_ Mike thought. _Daniel, where are you?_ Mike thought he heard the young man curled up on the ground moan – was that Dan? Had he been beaten with a crowbar by one of the suspects, had they gotten the drop on him? Or worse, gut shot? Mike hadn't seen any blood, he wasn't even sure it was Dan, but the thought that his partner might be lying hurt somewhere, hurt by Henry and whoever the young thug's partner was, that Henry was willing to kill an innocent unarmed man and still go after his Jeannie made Mike see red. Black and whites were showing up now, he could see Officer Morton hopping out of his unit, back behind Henry and the Santa, Officer Hague not far behind. "You're not going to get away with this Brown," Mike called out, keeping his anger under tight control. Belatedly, he noticed that while the Santa still had his hands up, he wasn't moving away from Henry anymore, but slowly moving back towards him, taking advantage of Henry's attention being divided. _What are you up to Santa?_ Mike thought. "There's nowhere to run, put the gun down and put your hands on your head!"

"Forget that Stone! I've got Santa here, you can't do a thing to me! You can't spoil Christmas for the kids this year, can you?" Henry sneered, still waving the gun at his hostage, but all of his attention on the lieutenant now, not paying attention to just how close Santa was getting to him.

"Drop your weapon!" Morton called out. "You're surrounded!"

The next few moments seemed to go in slow motion for Mike. Henry whirled around and fired at Officer Morton, causing both him and Hague to have to duck for cover. Henry was so focused on the uniformed officers though, he forgot all about Santa and Mike. Before another shot could be taken, Santa had tackled the thug to the ground, knocking the gun out of his hand, quickly wrestling him onto his stomach and pulling his wrists behind his back. Mike kicked Henry's gun away then knelt down by Santa in time to hear him say, "Santa doesn't like it when you're naughty." The red-suited man sounded slightly winded from taking the crook down. "You're under arrest."

Mike suppressed a relieved chuckle and pulled out his handcuffs. "Sounds like you've done this before, Santa," he said as he cuffed Brown, taking quite a bit of pleasure in getting the hoodlum off of the streets and back behind bars, just in time for Christmas too. The young man he'd been worried about was picking himself up off of the ground at last, and Mike finally got a good look at him and saw that it wasn't Dan at all, but someone much younger, just with a similar build and haircut as his partner. The elderly woman and man were both fussing over the young man by this time, calling him Benji, so he obviously had been a victim also, not in on the crime with Henry and his partner. Henry's partner was being cuffed by Morton, everything was under control, but where was Dan? "Nice work there," the lieutenant told Santa, trying hard not to worry about where his partner could be. _Don't invite trouble when you don't have to, Stone,_ he sternly told himself.

"Thanks, Mike. Good timing on your part, but what brings you out here, you're supposed to be off duty by now, won't Jeannie get worried?"

"I'll call her and let her know I got side-tracked," Mike started, then stared at the Santa as Officer Hague took Henry away. "Wait, how do you know my daughter, or me? And where's my partner, that's his Bronco over there."

Santa laughed and removed his hat and wig. "I guess I've gotten pretty good at this over the last few years after all." He laughed even more at the shocked look on Mike Stone's face. "Glad you had your cuffs, mine are locked up with my gun, don't need to have them or weapons near the kids coming over tonight. Close your mouth Mike, you're liable to catch a fly like that," Santa grinned.

"Dan?!"


	2. Chapter 2

Mike found it hard to not pull the whole story out of Dan all at once, but first things had to come first, and Dan's priority was to the elderly couple, whom he called Miss Nana and Mr. Cecil, and to the young man Benji, who Mike now knew was their grandson. Dan insisted that Mr. Cecil and Benji both be checked over by the paramedics who were now on the scene, but declined to be examined himself, saying that all he had was a few small bruises. "A Santa suit may slow you down a bit, but it cushions the hits," he assured Mike. "And Henry and his buddy over there didn't get in too many hits on me."

As the statements were taken though, Mike wasn't so sure that Dan only had a "few small bruises". He overheard most of Nana's statement and Cecil's, and was becoming more certain that all of them must have had a guardian angel looking over them this Christmas Eve. Nana, Cecil, and their grandson Benjamin had arrived early at the building where the interfaith charity they volunteered for stored various goods for needy families, collected donations of gifts, food and money, and on holidays like Christmas, they set up to feed those who needed help. Dan it turned out was also a volunteer for the charity, and had taken advantage of getting off work early to go ahead and head out to the building himself. He had planned to finish up any table setup that was needed while Nana and Cecil got started on the cooking, there would soon be other volunteers to help with the food and setup so they wouldn't have been by themselves for long. But Nana had thought it would be cute to take some Polaroid pictures of Santa in the kitchen supervising the cooking so she had asked Dan if he would mind going ahead and changing into the Santa suit early, that Benji could finish the table setup started earlier in the day and the night before by other volunteers. Miss Nana already had cheery Christmas music playing in the back storeroom when Dan went in there to change, so he never heard Henry storming in the front door with his partner.

By the time Dan had walked back out into the main room, everything was dead silent. Jake Mason, the man Henry's partner turned out to be, had Nana, Cecil and Benji in the kitchen, standing guard over them with his weapon, which like Henry's had turned out to be a homemade billy club made of some kind of hard, heavy wood, not a crowbar. He and Henry had realized there was someone else in the building and Henry had hidden, waiting to ambush Dan, not realizing the man in the Santa suit that he was about to attack was a homicide detective, and one who had been a part of his arrest in the murder of Helen King. Henry had taken a vicious swing at Dan's head with his club, a blow that by Dan's own admission he had just barely avoided. Not giving Dan a chance to recover from the surprise attack, Henry had hit the detective high in the back with the club then shoved him into the Christmas tree, yelling for Jake to grab the money they had forced Mr. Cecil to get for them from the office. The thugs ran out the door with Benji in hot pursuit and Mr. Cecil trying his best to follow and keep Benji from taking on the crooks himself, while Miss Nana did her best to help Dan get untangled from the Christmas tree. By the time Dan was back on his feet, Benji was already fighting with Henry and Jake, who were delighting in toying with the brave but outmatched seventeen-year-old boy. Dan told Nana to call the police and to stay inside, lock herself inside the office, then charged outside in time to see Jake pull a gun on Benji and pull the trigger.

A shot that thankfully did not happen as the gun mis-fired. Cecil then tried to go to his grandson to help him get back on his feet, but Henry had shoved him to the ground, and Jake had then tried to shoot Mr. Cecil, but the gun mis-fired again. Dan ran at Jake to disarm him, only to take another hit from Henry's club, this time to his mid-section – a blow that turned out to likely save Dan's life as Jake pulled the trigger again, the gun aimed at Dan, and this time it didn't mis-fire. The lab boys were already digging that bullet out of the front of the building, and from what Mike was hearing and seeing, if Dan hadn't been bent over from Henry's hit at that moment, it would've likely been a head shot. Or at the least, a possibly fatal shot in the chest, close to Dan's heart. Mike closed his eyes for a minute, reliving the last time a partner of his had been shot like that. It had been Steve on the Tannenger jury kidnapping, when he'd been shot by Barbara Ross. They had come way too close to losing Steve then, and Mike didn't like the thought that he had almost had to relive the experience with Dan today. Dan could still be a little bit rough around the edges at times, Mike thought, but he was a good man, an excellent detective – and he found he was just as attached to him as he was to Steve, both men were like sons to him, and two of the best friends he could ask for. But as well as he felt he knew Dan by now, Mike was realizing there was a lot more to his partner than he'd realized, and he had very nearly not gotten to really know the young man at all. _That is something that needs to change, right now_, Mike thought.

With "Santa" down for the count from Henry's hit, or so the thugs had thought, they had turned their attention back to Benji, kicking him in the stomach. Jake had tried to fire his gun again, but somehow there had been a miraculous third mis-fire, and Jake had thrown down his gun in disgust. Nana had started shouting that the police were on the way, calling out both Dan's and Benji's names while trying to help her husband back into the building. Henry had moved to threaten Nana and Cecil once again with his club when Dan had tripped him, surprising both crooks with not being down and out like they had thought. At that point it had become a cat and mouse game, with Dan buying time until backup arrived, gradually getting both Henry and Jake away from Benji, Nana and Cecil, tempting the young hoodlums with a target they realized they had underestimated, but still assumed they could beat down since he was unarmed, and they still had their clubs. Plus Henry still had the gun he hadn't pulled yet, a weapon that Dan had no knowledge of, and Jake was found to have been carrying a shiv inside his coat. More help from a guardian angel Mike decided, that the backup Dan had been stalling for was so close by. Mike himself had only been a couple of minutes away when he heard the call on the radio, Morton and Hague not that much further away themselves, having just finished clearing a minor fender bender. More watchfulness from that angel, that Jake had never pulled the shiv, that there had been three mis-fires and one missed shot from his gun, and that Henry for some reason hadn't pulled his gun on Dan until the very end. Dan had been stalling Henry and Jake for roughly three minutes by the time Mike arrived on the scene, but had been tiring out. Fighting in the Santa suit was difficult and hot, but he had held on, determined that Henry and Jake were not going to get away easily. All in all things had turned out fairly well: Cecil and Benji were going to be fine and neither one had to go to the emergency room. Nana had been scared, but was otherwise unharmed, and the money collected for the needy families that would arrive in a few hours for Christmas Eve dinner that night was all there. It wasn't a lot for each family, but everyone would get a little something to go with the food and clothing they would be sent home with, and the toys that would be handed out to the kids.

_And my partner is still alive_, Mike thought to himself as he followed Dan into the kitchen, the young detective shedding his Santa beard and coat, stripping down to just a plain white T-shirt and the Santa slacks as he rummaged in a cabinet for a glass to get some water. Mike winced as he got a look at Dan's bare arms, several red and some already purpling marks on them. "Are you sure you don't need to let the paramedics look you over as well, Speedy?" Mike asked, hoping the nickname he sometimes used for Dan would hide his concern over the young man's condition.

"I've been hurt worse, don't worry about me, Mike. I'm more worried about Mr. Cecil and Benji, I wish they'd let the paramedics take them to the hospital."

"Don't worry about us Danny," came Mr. Cecil's voice from behind Mike. "Benji didn't get hit like you did, those boys punched and kicked him, but they didn't hit him with their clubs like they did you – mercy boy!" the elderly man exclaimed. "Nana! We need to tend to Danny here!"

"I'm fine Mr. Cecil, really I am. I just need to cool off for a little while and then I can get to work with Benji getting everything straightened up out there in the main room for dinner tonight," Dan protested to no avail. Nana was already in the kitchen fetching some ice and telling Benji where the hot water bottle was so that they could fill it with ice and put it on the worst of Dan's bruises. Mike had to stifle a laugh as the two senior citizens fussed over his partner, Mr. Cecil making Dan sit down while he put the ice bottle on the ugliest bruise, a nasty-looking one on Dan's right arm, and Miss Nana had wet a cloth to start cleaning off the dirt from the knees of Dan's Santa pants, declaring that Santa should not have dirty knees on Christmas. The lieutenant almost couldn't hold in his laughter when his partner shot him a, "Help me!" look over the heads of the elderly couple.

Fortunately for Dan, who was starting to blush a little from all of the attention from Cecil and Nana – especially from Nana, who kept saying what a "brave boy" he'd been to take on "those nasty villains" by himself, and going on, saying, "Danny, you need to find yourself a girl and settle down, find someone to take care of you," – his rescue came in the form of Benji, who seemed none the worse for wear from his encounter with Henry and Jake. "Grandma, Granddad, the Goddards and the Washingtons are here to help out and want to know what happened that there's so many policemen outside, and Miss Jeanette is here too with Joseph and John."

"Why don't you two go see to the others, I'll take care of Danny here," Mike suggested with a twinkle in his eye, once again stifling a laugh as he caught Dan wrinkling his nose at the name "Danny". "He's my partner after all, and that's what partners do."

"You do just that, Lieutenant," Miss Nana said. "And don't let him take that ice pack off of that bruise for another five minutes at least! Danny, Miss Jeanette has probably brought her chocolate fudge for tonight, I'm going to get you a couple of pieces. You need to eat more dear, you're too skinny!" With a fond pat to Dan's cheek, Miss Nana hustled out the kitchen door, Cecil and Benji not far behind. Dan immediately started to put down the ice pack, but Mike gently but firmly put it right back in place, with a playful scolding look on his face.

"No, no, no Danny," he said. "Five more minutes at least. You don't want me to have to tell on you to Miss Nana, now do you?"

Dan replied with a raspberry and a frown, then finally gave into his own suppressed fit of laughter. "That woman is a force of nature to be reckoned with, I'm telling you Mike," he said with a fond smile. "Her and Mr. Cecil both. Oh, and they're the only ones I let get away with calling me 'Danny', by the way," he warned the older man with a mock stern look. "Call me that again and I'll have to start calling you 'Sir' again."

"Don't you dare, Speedy," Mike warned with a grin. The partners relaxed in the kitchen, Dan obediently keeping the ice pack on the bruise on his arm, Mike refilling Dan's glass of water, and both listening to the sounds of volunteers arriving, sounds of alarm and relief as everyone was told what had happened, but that the police were nearly done and that they all still had work to do to get everything ready for feeding the needy families that would be arriving in a few hours. Turkeys and hams both had been roasted the day before in the non-profit's kitchen and needed to be heated back up and sliced, casseroles needed to be baked, vegetables and other sides to be cooked, desserts to be set up, and somebody needed to start straightening up the tables and set the Christmas tree back to rights. Mike and Dan soon retreated to the back storeroom to be out of the way, since neither Mr. Cecil or Miss Nana would let Dan help with the setup just yet, and they had both decided that Mike was the one to keep Dan in line. "White Christmas" was playing on the radio when they entered the storeroom. Mike found a couple of chairs for them to sit on and they kept the door open so that the volunteers could come in and get whatever supplies they needed as called for. "They are quite the pair," Mike commented, watching Cecil and Nana through the doorway. "Are you sure Nana wasn't a drill sergeant in the Army at some point?"

Dan laughed, putting down the ice pack and flexing his arm. Truth be told, his arm did feel better. His back would be aching before the night was over, but a nice hot shower would ease all of his aches and pains to come later. "She should have been." Dan sighed and smiled, watching the elderly couple move around, directing the volunteers, almost making it look like a dance. Mr. Cecil even slipped his arm around Miss Nana's waist at one point and gave her a quick twirl, dancing to music and memories that only the married couple could hear and see. "Sometimes I think they'll outlast us all."

Mike nodded, chuckling as he watched Benji squirm away from his grandmother, blushing as she gave him a hug and a quick kiss on the cheek, saying something about how she was sure his girlfriend would love the Christmas gift the boy had gotten for her. "Quite the bunch you're working with here, how did you get started with all of this? I had no idea you did anything like this."

Dan smiled. "There's a lot you don't know about me yet, Mike. I have to keep things interesting, don't I?" Mike shook his head, silently chuckling. "Mike, remember a few months ago, I'm not even sure which case it was we were working, I know it wasn't Henry and the Jackals, that was early this year, so maybe it was even late last year when you said –"

"Was that only this year, busting the Jackals? I was thinking it had been two years ago almost now," Mike mused. "No, you're right, that was earlier this year, Jeannie just finished up school a few months ago. Feels longer that that somehow."

"It's been that kind of a year," Dan agreed. "Everything feels so long ago and almost like yesterday at the same time sometimes." Dan sighed and shook his head. "This job can really turn your life upside down when you least expect or need it to." Before Mike could question that statement, Dan continued on, "But remember, you were saying you had news that would warm the cockles of my heart?"

Mike thought, then smiled a little. "Yeah, I remember that. Can't remember which case it was either, but I remember you saying that your family was too poor to afford cockles." Mike studied his partner for a moment, then straightened a bit. "You weren't exaggerating, were you?"

Dan looked down and sighed again before meeting Mike's eyes. "Not by much," he admitted. "Mike, when I was about six years old, my Dad lost his job. Layoffs. He started working odd jobs around town to bring in what he could until he could find another full-time job, but he got hurt really bad on one of those little odd jobs, and it took a few months before he fully healed. In the meantime, things went from being tight to, 'Can we keep a roof over our head?' pretty quickly. We'd never had much money to start with, and Dad losing his job nearly did us in. We weren't living in San Francisco then, and there weren't a lot of jobs to be had at the time even before the layoffs. Mom did what she could to bring in a little extra and somehow we managed to get by." Dan smiled a little then. "Dad had taught me how to fish before everything happened, so when I started to catch on that things weren't right, I decided to fish when I could to try and help out. I think it hurt Mom and Dad that their little boy that they were trying to shield from everything was realizing that things were a lot rougher than they were letting on, but I think I made them a little proud too, that I had taken it on myself to do what I could do to help. Let me tell you one thing, there's nothing more stubborn than a six-year-old boy who wants to make his Mom smile and his Dad proud of him."

Mike smiled, he could just picture a little Dan, trudging down a street somewhere, proud of catching some fish that he knew would put food on the table for his parents. Certain things he'd seen Dan do over the nearly year and a half now that they had been partners were making a new kind of sense: Dan making sure that older crime victims felt secure in their homes before he left, making sure that little children knew they were safe. Mike had seen Dan go out and buy groceries for one disabled man whose home had been broken into, his wife badly injured and their whole house a mess, all for a disability check and a mere twenty dollars in cash. The check was for rent, bills and medicine, whatever was left plus the twenty had been intended for groceries. Dan could get very passionate about a lot of their cases, Mike had seen the young man's anger flame high over crooks laughing at the law, knowing how to play the courts. But this was a softer side, a compassionate side to the outgoing young man that Mike had always wondered where the roots had come from. Now he was starting to understand. "Let me guess," Mike said. "Somebody, or a group like this, but someone helped you and your family out that Christmas."

Dan smiled, then got up and started putting his Santa coat back on. "You catch on quick there, you just might make detective yet," he teased. "Yeah…" he mused, lost in memories as he slowly adjusted the bulky coat, then reached for the belt, wincing slightly as his back protested against the movement. "I don't know how we would have survived those last few months if we hadn't had help. Did I leave the hat and wig and beard in the kitchen, Mike?"

"No, I've got them right here," Mike answered, offering the beard first.

"I must be getting forgetful today, I almost left my place without the wig and hat."

Mike chuckled as he watched his partner change back into Santa. A thinner Santa than most would expect for sure, but a good one nonetheless. "Say, you're not the only one getting forgetful. Henry was yelling about me busting him last year, but we busted the Jackals earlier this year. I wasn't in on a bust on him last year, I'm sure of it. Not for murder or manslaughter at least. I guess the time he's done so far is messing up his memory."

Dan nodded absently, having completed his transformation back into Santa Claus. One family that was getting aid that night had come in early with their little girl, and he wanted to make sure he didn't spoil the illusion of Santa for her. A quick check in a small mirror in the storeroom and he was satisfied. "Yeah, I guess so. Or maybe…" Dan's voice trailed off, then he spun around quickly, striding over to Mike. "Maybe he's got a guilty conscience about something from last year and seeing you caused him to slip up. Maybe he just admitted to something today." Dan started pacing, his mind bringing up everything he could remember in the files on the Jackals. "Let's see, Stevens busted Henry and of couple of those guys last year at about the same time we got them this year for what they did to Mrs. King – maybe Henry did something around that time that Stevens couldn't pin on him."

"Slow down Speedy!" Mike said, stopping the young man in his tracks. "You might be right, or it could just be that Henry was mixing up his arrests. He has been in trouble a lot, we cops and crimes could start to blur together after a while. Or," he continued, holding up his hand to keep Dan from interrupting, "you might be right, and maybe he just gave us a break on a cold case. Whatever the truth is, if you are remembering his file correctly, then this is something Stevens needs to follow up on, and it can be done when we come back to work after Christmas, Daniel." Dan still looked like he wanted to protest, and Mike put his hands on Dan's shoulders, hoping he wasn't hitting any hidden bruises on his partner. "Henry and Jake aren't going anywhere, we've got them. Stevens will have plenty of time to see if Henry just ratted on himself. You," Mike said sternly, pointing his finger at Dan's chest, "have a job to do here tonight, right?"

Dan frowned at his partner. "I wasn't going to leave here without doing what I came to do, Mike," he replied a little crossly.

"I know you weren't, but you were thinking about heading in either later on tonight, or tomorrow, Christmas Day of all days, weren't you? I know you Daniel Robbins, when you get an idea in your head you can be worse than a dog who won't give up a bone. You are off duty tonight and all day tomorrow, and you are not going in to work, understand?" Mike stared at his partner until he saw the young Inspector's shoulders slump slightly, admitting to losing this round. "Dan," Mike said, more gently this time. "Dan, listen to me. Christmas is a time to be with family and friends, not stuck behind a desk working. Or sitting by yourself at a restaurant, looking lost."

The growing shock on Dan's face would have been funny in any other situation. "How… Who told you I was by myself last year?"

"One Officer Chester Williams. Was he wrong?"

Dan sat back down, shaking his head, a wistful smile on his face. "Old Chet Williams. Yeah, he would know, he was there for so much of it." Dan looked up at Mike, a slightly sad smile on his face. "My first few weeks on the streets I rode with Chet, he's the one that showed me the ropes. 'Just because you were in the Army for five years son, and just because you graduated from college early because you took classes non-stop, that doesn't mean you know a thing about being a cop on the streets of San Francisco,' he told me." Dan laughed a little then. "It didn't take long for him to realize that I knew a lot more about what it took to be a cop than he had expected, and for me to realize I didn't know nearly as much as I had thought I did." He smiled and sighed then, remembering the balding man with the big personality. "Good man, good cop, great teacher. Good Lord, shouldn't he be retired by now?"

"I think he's got a couple more years to go," Mike replied. "So he was right? And you didn't have plans last year, or your plans were canceled? You still could have come over, you know."

Dan stood up and clapped an appreciative hand on Mike's arm. His partner sounded almost hurt that Dan hadn't come by last year, and hurting Mike was the last thing he had ever intended. "I did have plans last year, for Christmas morning, and I did them. I didn't lie to you, and I didn't have anything canceled on me. I…" Dan looked down, and in that moment Mike thought his partner looked younger than ever, and more hurt than he'd ever seen him. "Mike, Christmas is a rough time of the year for me. Not this," he said, waving his hand around the storeroom and then pointing out to the main room. "This is good, this is right. It's the time when I don't have this… It gets rough. And I'm just not sure I'm good company in those hours, you know? If I'm in a funk, I see no reason to depress anyone else, so it's just better if I'm by myself."

"Daniel…" Mike started, but was interrupted by a blur of a little girl rushing into the storeroom, all excited from having spotted Santa in the doorway.

"Santa!" the dark-haired girl squealed excitedly, eagerly hugging Dan around the waist. "You're here, you're really here!"

Dan laughed and deepened his voice a bit, picking up the bouncing girl and carrying her back out into the main room, which was nearly completely put back in order. "I certainly am sweetie – have you been a good little girl this year?"

"Santa!" the girl laughed. "You already know if I've been bad or good, you're Santa!"

Dan chuckled and set the girl down near the Christmas tree. "Yes I do, and I think I know what you wished for, I do believe I have you on my list – yes, you're Christi, aren't you?"

The little girl's mouth dropped open, her eyes round as saucers. "You are the real Santa! Mommy! He's real, he's the real Santa, not like the one that smelled like cheese at the store! He's the real Santa!" The little girl raced around, bouncing around a woman with short dark blonde hair. Mike and Dan both laughed as the little girl raced back to Dan, but stopped in front of Mike. "Are you Santa's helper, Mister?"

Mike grinned and lightly tapped the little girl on the nose. "Well, I did help him out a little bit earlier today, so I guess I am for a little while. You can call me Mister Mike."

The little girl, Christi, looked at Mike's head. "You're not wearing a Santa hat, did you forget yours?"

Mike chuckled and smiled at the girl. He guessed she was probably about seven years old, or at least close to it. "Well, I hadn't planned on helping Santa out tonight, so yes, I'm afraid I did forget. I actually came here to invite Santa to lunch tomorrow, after he's finished all of his work."

Christi clapped her hands happily. "Turkey and ham like we're going to have here tonight?"

Mike laughed and knelt down to be at eye level with the girl. He noticed that her clothes were a bit careworn, and she needed new shoes. "Yes, turkey and ham both. I have a grown-up daughter, and she's doing the cooking for tomorrow. She really wants Santa to stop by and have lunch with us, do you think she'll be as excited to see him as you are?"

"Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes!" Christi giggled, then looked at Dan. "And you'll be hungry too after flying all around the world and the whole city too, so you should eat lunch with her and you can give her a doll like I wished for, a Barbie doll!"

Before Dan could think of a proper response Christi raced off to her mother again, excitedly telling her that Santa was going to have lunch with his helper Mister Mike and his grown-up daughter, and telling her mother that Mister Mike's daughter would get a Barbie doll. Miss Nana overheard and came over to Dan and hugged him, then thanked Mike for looking out for "their Danny" and gave the senior detective a kiss on the cheek. Mike smiled and assured Nana that Dan would be taken care of on Christmas Day, then turned around to see his partner shooting him a mildly dark look. "That's playing dirty, Mike."

Mike grinned. "When it's for a good cause, I'll play dirty sometimes, you know that. Dan," Mike began, again putting a hand on his young partner's shoulder. "Dan, I know you've said that you don't have any family around anymore since your folks moved to Florida a few years ago to help out your aunt and uncle. Well, you're wrong about that." Mike stared at Dan, making sure he had the man's full attention. "You're a part of our family now – me, Jeannie, Steve, everybody back at the office. You're family, and that's all there is to it. You've got people to spend time with, whether you're feeling good or bad. We've got your back, and we know you've got ours. That's what friends, what family is for, right?" Mike watched Dan's eyes, he could see he was struggling with the decision. "Come on, when it's the holidays Jeannie always cooks too much food, Steve and I are going to need some help eating it all."

Dan sighed and hung his head a moment. "Let me think about it for a few minutes. Please?" he pleaded.

Mike wanted to say no, wanted Dan to answer him right then, but he knew better than to press. Good Lord but his partner looked so very young and vulnerable at that moment, and it almost scared Mike to see him that way. _Give him time, Michael,_ he told himself. _Something about Christmas hurts him, give him a moment._ Mike nodded and patted Dan on the shoulder. "I'll be here for a little while longer." Mike smiled and pointed at Christi, who had settled down enough to begin helping her mother and Miss Nana with replacing a few ornaments on the Christmas tree. "I'm Santa's helper after all, right?"

Dan smiled and nodded, then headed over to Mr. Cecil to finally take the Polaroid pictures Nana had wanted earlier of Santa in the kitchen, checking on the food. Mike for his part helped to finish decorate the tree, then entertained Christi for a few minutes with a slightly off-key rendition of "Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer", much to the child's delight. Dan watched Mike from the kitchen doorway, watched his partner step up and pitch right on in, setting out chairs at the tables, hanging up mistletoe at one point, which earned him surprise kisses on the cheek from both Nana and little Christi. At that moment, Dan wished he could go back in time, back to another Christmas, maybe things would have been different if he had… _No_, he thought to himself. _Going back to a Christmas past or even further wouldn't have changed a thing. You know that, Dan Robbins._ Dan smiled and straightened up as the whirlwind of energy that was Christi ran up to him again to give him a hug and a kiss on the cheek. Mike joined him in time to hear her say, "Merry Christmas, Santa!" before she scampered off to help her mother and Miss Nana some more.

Mike studied his partner as the man watched Christi with a wistful look on his face. "You have a little sister with her energy, or a cousin?" Mike asked.

"No, I'm an only child," Dan replied. Mike wondered if he should press for more of an answer than that, but suddenly found Dan studying him, his head cocked to the side in a manner that Mike knew all too well. It was a classic look from the detective, and either meant that Dan was plotting something, or had figured something out. "Okay, you're on. I'll take you up on your offer of lunch on Christmas – I'll even stay for dinner if you want me to. I'll even sweeten up the deal for you, on one condition."

"Name it."

Dan grinned. "Okay, here goes. Not only will I spend tomorrow with you, Jeannie and Steve, lunch and dinner if you're sure it's not going to be too much or too crowded, but I'll even take you up on the offer you made last year of me staying with you tonight and going to midnight Mass with you. How does that sound?"

Mike grinned, but gave Dan a puzzled look. "You're on, but what do I have to do to earn this sweet deal?"

Dan smiled and now it was his turn to put his hands on Mike's shoulders. "Tomorrow morning you are going to be my helper as I take care of my Christmas Day plans. I'll find a Santa hat for you, I've got a spare at home, but I want you wearing a nice red sweater and your best smile. Deal?"

"Your helper? Just what in the world are you up to?"

"Nope, no questions tonight, you either accept the deal or you don't. Ever hear of 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory'? Michael, this is your golden ticket to get a peek into my life. Once in a lifetime offer maybe, you never know. Now do we have a deal? We'll need to head out from your place at about eight-thirty in the morning to have plenty of time to get where we're going. What do you say?"

Mike looked at his partner, slightly stunned. He was getting the result he wanted, but this wasn't how he had thought he would get it. _Nothing ventured, nothing gained, Stone. This is what you wanted, for Dan to not be alone on Christmas._ "All right then. I'll do it. You've got a deal, Daniel Robbins. And with that, I'd better be off or Jeannie really will start to wonder what's happened to me. You'll be coming over later tonight?"

"Just as soon as I get through helping out with the cleanup here. I'll need to run by my place to change and pack an overnight bag, but I'll be at your place in plenty of time to head out for Mass. See you later, Mike. And Mike?" Dan added, stopping Mike at the door. "Thanks."

"You're always welcome, Dan. I'll see you later." Mike went out to his car and put the key in the ignition, but simply sat behind the wheel for a little while. He'd done what he had set out to do, he had convinced Dan to join them for Christmas. Getting him to come to midnight Mass wasn't something Mike had dared to try for, but that was happening too. As he started the car and began his drive home, Mike smiled to himself and shook off the feeling of possibly having started something big that couldn't be stopped now. Days later, he would say to Jeannie that he should've remembered the line in a country song from a few years back.

_Along with the sunshine, there's got to be a little rain sometimes._


	3. Chapter 3

Part Three

"Three mis-fires? You have got to be kidding me!" Steve exclaimed.

"You heard me right, Buddy-boy," Mike replied. "Somehow that gun mis-fired three times, and the one time it did work, Dan got lucky. A hit to the stomach with a club is a lot easier to recover from than a point-blank shot to the chest." _Or head_, Mike thought, but decided not to say it out loud. He'd already given Steve and Jeannie the full story over dinner, but the realization of how close a call it had been was still sinking in with the two of them.

"They had an angel watching over them," Jeannie said, echoing Mike's own earlier thoughts. "Only explanation for it, they had an angel watching over them." Jeannie smiled then. "I have to admit though, I wish I had seen Dan fighting those guys in the Santa suit. A Santa that could fight back had to have been the last thing they expected!"

Mike chuckled and grinned. "You should've seen the look on Henry's face when he realized that Santa Claus was another one of the cops who busted him and the Jackals earlier this year. He had enough steam coming out of his ears to run a steam engine from one end of the city to the other!"

"Three mis-fires," Steve whistled under his breath, absently stroking the scar on his chest from the last bullet he'd taken in the line of duty. "I don't think I've ever heard of something like that. Had to have been a defective gun or something, I'm thinking Mason's lucky the thing didn't mess up his hand or worse. Three of them…" Steve's voice trailed off as he shook his head. "And then you actually got Dan to agree to not only come over here to stay the night and go to Mass with us, but also to stay tomorrow for lunch _and_ dinner? Mike, have you been slipping some bribes to a priest to hand to the Man upstairs or something? How in the world did you manage that?"

Mike chuckled as he headed to the kitchen to pour himself some coffee. "Clean living, you should try it sometime, Steve. And may I remind you, it was Dan himself who sweetened the deal, all I have to do is help him out tomorrow morning."

"In a red sweater and your best smile, we remember Mike," Jeannie said, hugging her father as he reached for two more mugs to pour her and Steve some coffee as well. "I've pulled out your best red sweater, the smile you'll have to manage on your own."

"Thank you sweetheart," Mike answered, giving his daughter a light kiss on her forehead. "All I have to do is remember the look on Dan's face every time Miss Nana called him 'Danny' and I'll be smiling bigger than the Cheshire Cat," Mike said, heading to the front door to answer the knocking he heard.

Steve and Jeannie both laughed at that, Mike had told them all about what had happened after Henry and Jake had been taken away, how Nana and Cecil had fussed over the young detective as if he were their son. "I'm still trying to picture Dan in a Santa suit myself," Steve grinned.

"If you're awake early enough in the morning, you'll get the chance Steve," Dan called from the doorway. "Merry Christmas guys! Thanks for having me over."

"Merry Christmas Dan!" Jeannie called, rushing over to give the dark-haired detective a hard squeeze.

Dan sucked in a sharp breath and winced in spite of himself. "Oof, not so hard around the back Jeannie, it's starting to hurt a little bit now. Hugs around the neck are better," he said with a rueful smile as Mike took his partner's overnight bag and suit bag to the spare room. "Thanks Mike."

"Come sit down, Dan," Steve urged, pointing Dan to the new sofa in the living room, taking a foil-wrapped paper plate from Dan's hand, then headed for the kitchen to put it on the table. "Mike's been telling us all about what happened, sounds like you've had a rough day. You sure you're up to going to Mass with us?"

Dan nodded, sighing with relief as he sank into the couch. "I'll be fine, I've been hurt worse. I'll get a hot shower after Mass tonight, that'll work out the kinks and I'll be just fine in the morning. Did you find a red sweater, Mike? I've got my spare Santa hat in my overnight bag."

"I've got his best red sweater already pulled out for tomorrow morning, Dan," Jeannie answered, heading to the kitchen. "Coffee?"

"Thanks, Jeannie," Dan answered gratefully, slowing leaning forward in the couch to stretch out his aching back. "I'm still up for Mass tonight, but it has been a long day. We took care of thirteen individuals and fourteen families tonight, ten of those with kids, and most of them were at least half as wound up as Christi was earlier. Oh," Dan grinned, "Christi made me promise to give you a Barbie doll for Christmas, since you were cooking lunch for me and 'Mister Mike' tomorrow and she's absolutely sure you've been a good girl this year since 'Mister Mike' was so nice and smelled like her granddad." Jeannie stopped in her tracks and stared at Dan, then Mike, trying very hard not to laugh. "She was very glad that he didn't smell like old cheese like the Santa at the store she saw last week."

Jeannie leaned in the doorway to the kitchen, falling into a fit of laughter. Steve wasn't any better, nearly falling as he tried to sit down in the armchair across from the sofa he was laughing so hard. "Old cheese?" Jeannie finally managed to gasp.

"That's what she said," Dan answered with a grin, carefully settling back into the sofa. "I think Mike here may have a new fan with Christi. So long as he keeps on smelling like her granddad and not cheese."

"I am not old enough to be a grandfather just yet!" Mike protested, but he made no effort to hide his smile, fondly remembering the bouncy little girl listening to him sing a few hours earlier. "An uncle, maybe, but not a grandfather."

Jeannie had finally collected herself enough to pour Dan's promised coffee and bring it to him, giving her father a quick peck on the cheek first. "You could always be a young grandfather," she reminded him, handing Dan the coffee and turning her attention fully to her father's partner. "Dan, can I get you something for the pain? From what Mike told us about everything, and how bad he said that bruise on your arm looked, I'm thinking you need a little something more than a hot shower and coffee."

"Sleep will be good," Dan admitted, drinking the coffee gratefully. "In the meantime, if you've got some Tylenol, that would be wonderful."

Jeannie smiled and patted Dan's knee, then headed for the bathroom medicine cabinet. "I think we've got some, but there should be some aspirin here if nothing else."

Steve had finally collected himself enough to speak by this time. "You smell like a grandfather, do you?" he teased Mike.

"A young grandfather, thank you very much."

Steve chuckled, grinning at his former partner. "I'm not sure which I'm having a harder time imagining, you as a grandfather, or Dan here as Santa."

Mike grinned at his former partner. "Just imagine me as Santa's helper then, if you can't manage anything else. Santa hat, red sweater –"

"And your best smile, we know Mike. Found some Tylenol, Dan, hope this helps," Jeannie said, placing two pills into a grateful Dan's hand. Jeannie sat on the sofa next to her father's partner, waiting until he took the pills before continuing. "What I want to know is, why does he need the sweater, hat and smile? And I'd like an answer other than he's helping you tomorrow, 'Santa', before you kidnap my father first thing in the morning."

Dan gave Jeannie a mock frown, glanced at Steve, who was just as interested in Dan's response, and then shot his look in Mike's direction. "I thought I told you the deal was that you would find out in the morning, partner."

Mike put up his hands in mock surrender. "I'm not the one asking!"

Jeannie gave Dan her sweetest smile. "I'll bake some sugar cookies tomorrow if you tell. Besides, you made your deal with Mike, not me or Steve. So we get to ask."

Mike kept smiling, but watched Dan carefully. Steve and Jeannie hadn't seen how hard it had been for Dan to agree to come over to start with, and he was afraid that maybe Dan would see this as pushing for something he wasn't really ready to discuss yet. Dan frowned at Jeannie and Steve in turn, but the look in his eyes was one of exasperation, not upset. Dan looked over at Mike and shook his finger at him. "All right, I'll tell, but you're paying for this partner. We're taking your car in the morning instead of my Bronco now, and you're driving, not me."

"Deal," Mike chuckled. "I'll make the grand sacrifice to satisfy Jeannie and Steve. Beside, Jeannie hasn't baked sugar cookies in a long time, I'm looking forward to having some tomorrow now."

Dan shook his head, smiling. "The things we do to satisfy your sweet tooth." Dan shot a look at Jeannie, took another sip of his coffee, then put the half-empty mug on the end table. "Sugar cookies. You play just as dirty as Mike does, I swear!"

Jeannie simply grinned at Dan. "Like father, like daughter. Now where are you two going, the suspense is killing me!"

Dan tapped Jeannie lightly on the nose, shaking his head. "You're worse than Christi was earlier," he declared. Dan looked at his friends each in turn, then looked back at Jeannie. "Bayview. We're going to Bayview in the morning."

"Bayview?" Steve asked. "Is someone in the hospital?"

"Seventeen children in the children's ward at last count this morning," Dan answered, reaching for his coffee again, but merely held the mug in his hand instead of taking another sip. "Might be down to fifteen by now, there was a chance that two of the kids would be well enough to go home today. Of course, if anyone has an accident on the streets, or somebody gets really sick, or something else happens, the number could be higher." Dan frowned a little at the thought. "Accidents, sickness, chronic illness, birth defects – none of them respect age or a calendar."

"Seventeen?" Jeannie breathed. "At Christmas?"

Dan nodded and finished his coffee, putting the empty mug back on the end table before facing Jeannie. "Folks are in the hospital year round, you know that. Adults miss being at home at times like this bad enough, but for a kid? Especially a really young one? Being in the hospital can be downright terrifying, and pretty lonely too if both parents have to work and can't stay for long periods in the hospital with them." Dan sighed, this time looking at Mike. "The kids, especially the little ones, when they're in the hospital this time of year, they start to worry that Santa won't be able to find them because they're not at home. Or worse, that he'll forget them because they're not at home. And all that worry just piles on top of them already not feeling well, being scared in some cases at being in the hospital to start with, and feeling lonely because they can't be with their family and friends like they want to be."

"And you play Santa Claus for them? How long have you been doing this, how did you get started?" Steve asked, leaning forward in his chair. The former Inspector had been friends with Dan for a little over two years, having met him a few months before he made detective, and had thought he knew Dan really well. "How come I didn't know about this?"

"I just try to help folks out when and where I can," Dan shrugged. "I've been playing Santa Claus for them over at Bayview ever since Christmas of '70, it's '77 now, so this will be the eighth time I've done it. Last year with that bug that was going around, there were twenty kids in the ward on Christmas Day, and that was down from twenty-six the night before."

Jeannie frowned, doing the math in her head. "When were you in the Army then? And didn't Mike tell me at one point that you joined the force in late in 1971, early 1972, something like that? And that you've got a college degree? When do you ever stop and take a break?"

Dan smiled and leaned over, putting his head on Jeannie's shoulder and pretended to fall asleep for a few seconds, then sat back up with a grin. "Break taken."

Jeannie lightly swatted Dan's knee. "That's not what I mean and you know it, buster! I mean it, when is the last time you stopped for more than a weekend?"

Dan chuckled and smiled at her. "I didn't realize you worried so much!"

Jeannie stuck out her tongue at him, swatting his knee again. "You are an onion, Dan Robbins!"

"I didn't think I smelled that bad, I can go take that shower now if I do."

"No silly!" Jeannie laughed, then gave the detective a light kiss on the cheek. "You don't smell like an onion, you're like one. You peel away one layer, and find out there's several more underneath."

"Well, it's nice to know that I'm more than just another pretty face to you, Jeannie. Thank you," Dan smiled impishly, then surprised her with a quick kiss on her cheek. "And it's nice to know I don't smell like an onion, or old cheese."

Jeannie laughed, then playfully sniffed the collar of Dan's shirt. "No, if anything, you smell like chocolate!" she declared. "You should tell Steve what cologne you use, I sure don't know of any that smell like chocolate. Maybe he'll have better luck with dating. You've got better eyelashes than him, so he needs all the help he can get!"

"Hey now!" Steve said, hopping up out of the chair and starting after Jeannie, who scampered into the kitchen. "What's wrong with my eyelashes?"

"Nothing, it's just that I've got girlfriends who would kill for eyelashes like Dan's. They should be classified as deadly weapons!" Jeannie squealed as Steve chased her into the kitchen, leaving a laughing Dan and Mike in the living room.

"Steve, it's not cologne, it's chocolate fudge! Miss Jeanette and Miss Nana insisted on making me eat some earlier, that's what is on the plate I brought!" Dan laughed and held his sides as Steve tried to catch Jeannie, but she kept the kitchen table between them.

"Don't break anything in there you two!" Mike called, laughing and smiling, enjoying watching his former partner and his daughter competing to see who would outsmart who around the table.

Dan chuckled and asked, "When are those two finally going to start dating already?"

"I don't know, I don't think they know," Mike smiled. "But it can't happen too soon for me."

"You're okay with it if they do?"

"Yeah… Yes, I am. A few years ago, maybe I wouldn't have been, Steve is a few years older than my Jeannie. But she's a grown woman now and knows her own mind. Why, are you trying to match them up? You don't want to date Jeannie yourself?" Mike teased.

"I'm no match for Jeannie," Dan laughed. "Too much for me to handle, I know my limits!" he joked. "Besides, I've seen how she looks at Steve and how he looks at her when they think nobody is looking at them, especially each other." Dan shook his head and sighed as Jeannie ran back into the living room to sit with him again, Steve hot on her heels, but admitting defeat and sitting back down in the chair he'd vacated moments before. "I may end up being a bachelor forever, I have lousy luck with dating."

"With those eyelashes?" Jeannie teased, giving Dan a playful hug. "I'm not kidding, they are lethal weapons, they hit the heartstrings, you've got to have women chasing you all over town!"

"Not me, no ladies trying to hunt me down I'm afraid."

"So who is Karen Watson, then?" Steve suddenly asked. "I just remembered, Bill called here before Mike got in and said a Karen Watson had called for you this afternoon, left a number to call her back. Bill didn't get you at your place, so he called here hoping that Mike would know where you might be." Steve shot an apologetic look at Mike. "Sorry, but when you came in and told us what happened, I forgot all about the message. The number is by the phone there, I can't believe I forgot the call – Dan? You okay?"

Dan's face had paled at the mention of the woman's name and he had frozen in place on the sofa. Mike watched his partner with concern. "Dan? Can I get you something?" The dark-haired man shook his head silently, waving Mike off. "Dan?"

"Dan, you look like you've seen a ghost, what's wrong?" Jeannie asked gently, taking his hand in hers. Slowly, Dan closed his hand around hers, but didn't look at any of them.

"That answers that question, she's back in town, has to be," he said softly. Dan stared at the floor for several long, quiet moments that his friends didn't dare break. Finally he took a breath and looked at Steve. "She's my ex-girlfriend from years ago, but she was Karen Barber then. And yes, before you ask," Dan said, looking over at Mike, "Barber as in Fred Barber, the commercial real estate developer. Karen is his and Leslie's daughter. And thank God she's nothing like them."

Steve gave Dan a puzzled look. "What do you mean by that, I've had to interview them before," he started, casting a glance over at Mike. "It was a case I worked on my own while you were out sick about four years ago with the flu, I needed to ask them if they had seen one of the suspects in a model's murder at a big society bash the night of the crime. They had, so that eliminated him early on." Steve looked at Dan, still puzzled. "They seemed pretty nice to me. A bit too stuffy for my taste, and their place practically oozed money, but they seemed nice enough."

Dan gave a dry laugh. "Oh, they can be nice and polite in all the proper situations Steve, never doubt that. But they're a couple of rich snobs who think that anybody who doesn't have a large enough bank account, or high enough social status, or who doesn't have some kind of high up power or authority is beneath their notice except in passing, or in business. Tell me, their niceness – did it feel to you like it was real?"

Steve leaned back in his chair and thought hard, recalling the wealthy couple to mind. Perfectly pressed and tailored clothes, not a hair out of place on either one of them, the whole house had seemed like something out of a magazine, everything almost too perfect. "It felt… Well, now that I think about it, it felt kind of chilly, you know? Very proper, very polite, almost too polite, but not in a way that gave you the feeling that they were trying to hide anything."

Dan nodded. "Yeah, that's them alright. They never considered me a suitable match for Karen because I don't come from money. Just a kid that had to earn everything he got, work for it, just like his parents. They measure the value of a person by their money, not their heart or character." He sighed then and leaned back into the sofa, wincing again as his back reminded him of the fight with Henry and Jake. He didn't let go of Jeannie's hand, though. "Don't get me wrong, they're not bad people. Fred Barber is a very fair businessman, he will not try to put one over on you in a deal, he's very straight up. But when it comes to relating to someone more personally… Karen and I both agreed long ago, her parents are a couple of idiot stuck-up snobs." Dan looked up at the ceiling. "Karen said she and Bob were going to move back to San Francisco, I guess they finally found a house. They got married earlier this year. I haven't heard from her in a while. Knowing her, with everything that was going on to plan the wedding, keep her parents from being pains while not excluding them, running a branch of her Dad's company over in Baltimore, and making plans to move back here, she probably lost track of time, and then probably lost my address and number while packing. And I've moved since she got married, so all of my information has changed, mail only gets forwarded for so long." Dan looked at Steve finally. "Figures she would call the one place she knew I would be, work. Did she leave any message there besides to call her?"

Steve nodded. "Bill said she said to tell you, 'Merry Christmas from all of us.' Dan? I didn't mean to hit a sore spot there, sorry buddy."

Dan shook his head. "It's okay, you didn't know." Dan finally let go of Jeannie's hand and got up from the sofa with a pained grunt. "Maybe I should skip Mass and just go straight for that hot shower and some sleep, I'm stiffer than I thought. Mike, you're sure that I'm not making things too crowded here tonight?"

Mike got up and put a hand on Dan's shoulder. "We're putting you in the spare bedroom, Steve's already called dibs on the sofa here. It's a new sofa bed, he's got one just like it at his place now and swears it sleeps better than his bed. You're not making things crowded at all, and if you're hurting too much to go to Mass with us then we can all just stay here –"

"No, I don't want you guys missing Mass just because of me," Dan protested.

"Dan," Jeannie said softly. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have started all of this." Guilt was all over her face, she hadn't thought that asking where her father and his partner were going in the morning would end up taking such a sudden turn.

Dan sat back down on the sofa next to Jeannie and hugged her gently. "You didn't start anything, none of you did, nothing is anybody's fault. This all started a long time ago." Dan sighed, leaned back into the sofa and stared at the ceiling again for a while, then looked at Mike, who was still standing in the middle of the living room. "I owe you an explanation, partner."

"You don't owe me anything Dan – "

"No, I do," Dan said, cutting Mike off. "You saved my life out there today, did you know that? I don't know if you could see it from where you were, but Henry's finger was starting to squeeze the trigger when he pulled that gun on me, he was a second, two at the most from shooting me and there's no way I could have avoided the shot. When you yelled at him, it startled him, he released the trigger. I owe you, Mike."

Mike sat down on the edge of his chair next to the sofa, his hand on Dan's knee. "You don't owe me or any of us anything, Daniel," he said gently. "I'll not have you talking about anything because you feel like you owe us. Dan," he said, making sure he had his partner's undivided attention. "If you tell us anything about Karen, or whatever it is that's hurting you, it needs to be because you want to tell us, not because you think you have to, that you owe us something. You don't. Simply having you here with us is more than enough."

Dan shook Mike's hand gratefully. "Thank you," he answered quietly. He sat still for a few moments, stared off into the distance, memories he normally tried not to dwell on at this time of the year playing back in his mind. "To answer your earlier question Jeannie, I went into the Army straight out of high school in '63, signed up for a five year tour to have money for college, and as soon as I got out I went right into college and took as heavy a course load as I could so that I could graduate as fast as possible. I wanted to be a cop, but a cop with the options a degree could bring, like maybe one day moving into the DA's office or something like that. As for playing Santa at Bayview, Steve, I stumbled into that a couple of days before Christmas Day back in '70. As for the rest…" Dan lifted his hands, then let them fall helplessly into his lap. "I… I'm not sure where to begin."

"The beginning is usually a good place," Jeannie suggested gently.

Dan snorted lightly, shaking his head. "Which beginning, that's the question. The one with Karen picking me, one of the poorer guys in school to be her boyfriend our sophomore year of high school? The one where I enlisted and told her she didn't have to wait for me, but she did? The one where we moved in together as soon as I got out of the Army, and she was the breadwinner for us while I took classes non-stop and we saved for the day when we would finally get married, have a house of our own?" Dan stopped and looked at Mike then, giving him a sad look. "Or is it the one where I became a father?"


	4. Chapter 4

All thoughts of midnight Mass were gone from their minds as Mike, Jeannie and Steve simply watched Dan in silence. Mike watched his partner close his eyes and lean back in the sofa again, looking rather tired and drained. Dan had never been one to talk much about his family, other than the occasional mention of his folks enjoying Florida, and saying that he really needed to get out there at some point for a long overdue visit with them and his aunt and uncle. He didn't talk about his Army experience except in the context of work when he would recognize spent shells at a crime scene or something similar. Mike had asked Chet Williams one time about Dan shortly after he had made detective, about what kind of man this new homicide detective was. "Quick with a joke but serious about his work," Williams had said. "Outgoing, but very quiet about his personal life. Mike, he's had some rough spots, he tends to keep things close to the vest. It's not about trust, he just figures that his problems are his problems and he doesn't want to burden anybody else with them. He'll be the first one by your side when you're in trouble and the last one to leave it when the trouble is over, he's a helper by nature. Gets him more emotionally involved than what he should be maybe sometimes, but it's also what makes him such a good cop, and what will make him a great detective for you." Mike remembered the look Williams had given him then. "He's still rough around the edges, you'll see that for yourself, but it's where he'll charge ahead in something because he has a drive to make things right, not because he's not got the smarts. You'll probably have to rein him in when something fires him up, makes him mad – nothing sets him off quicker than feeling like somebody is laughing about getting away with robbery, assault, murder, what have you, acting like they're above the law, or when he sees somebody taking advantage of those he feels are defenseless. He's probably the best man for getting someone who is shy or uncomfortable to talk to you or listen to you, he identifies with them. He'll be the first to be able to get someone to open up, but the last to talk about himself, he's just a private guy."

Williams had started to leave Mike's office then, but had stopped in the doorway. "If he ever starts talking about his private life, I mean really talking – not about going camping or anything like that, but family-type stuff… Let him talk. It'll tell you two things Mike. One, you're someone he's got absolute trust and faith in. It's not that he won't trust any of the guys in here, but there's trust, and then there's _trust_, the kind when you don't leave up any defenses and folks can see everything, warts and all, see all the pain he hides. Two… Well, let's just say that a private guy who deals with his problems quietly, who doesn't brag about what he does, who puts others first… That guy sometimes needs someone to talk to, whether he realizes it or not, whether he even means to start talking or not. Don't worry, he'll do you proud Mike, just like he's done me," Williams had said as he left. "His only problem sometimes is that his heart is too big."

The words rang in Mike's mind as he watched Dan gather himself. Jeannie had quietly gotten up and retrieved the coffee pot, refilling everyone's mugs, but nobody had touched them yet. Mike had suspected that something had been hurting Dan for a long time for him to want to be alone at Christmas. _It's the time when I don't have this… It gets rough_, Dan had said earlier in the day.

_Rough is an understatement_, Mike thought. He tried not to let his thoughts run away with him about Dan's revelation of being a father. Dan had never talked about a long ago ex-girlfriend, much less a child. He watched the young man who like Steve, had become something of a son to him, family. _Dan would make a good father_, Mike thought, watching his partner carefully.

"Karen…" Dan suddenly started, his eyes still closed. "One of my buddies told me our sophomore year in high school that she was interested in me. Somehow, I worked up the nerve to ask her out – about two months later," he said with a small smile, finally opening his eyes again. "She helped me so much with my fear of public speaking. Athletics I was fine. Math, science – I was fine in all my subjects, unless I had to give an oral report. Talking in front of people scared me to death."

"Couldn't prove it by me," Steve said. "You handled yourself just fine in the first Tannenger trial, and the second one too when you had to testify."

Dan smiled. "You can thank Karen for that. Somehow, she was able to help me, just having that faith in me when she was someone that didn't have to have it, you know? Before we started dating, if I had to talk in front of people, I stammered and stuttered, I was just too nervous. And because I knew I would stammer and stutter I wouldn't speak up or look at anyone, so that just made it worse. Karen drew me out." Dan stared off into space, memories playing back in his mind. "When I enlisted I told her that I wanted her to wait for me, but that I wasn't going to ask her to do that, I wasn't going to hold her back. If she found someone else I would understand and accept it, if she was honest with me from the start. That's the only thing I held her to, to be honest with me."

"And she waited for you," Jeannie said.

Dan nodded. "She waited, and when I got out I jumped right into the next part of what I had planned for my life. Went straight into college, I was going to go non-stop, as many courses I could cram in each semester, summer semesters too and get out in three years if I could, which I did. I tested out of a few courses, so that helped. The two of us moved into a small one-bedroom apartment near campus. Karen had already been out of college for a year and was working for her Dad and doing rather well. She's got a real head for the business, one of the few things Fred and I could agree on." Dan actually laughed a little then. "They stopped by one day, about two weeks after we had moved in together to check out their little girl's new apartment, and of course they came by an hour before we were expecting them. They didn't know we were living together yet, Karen had planned to tell them when they came by and I would be gone already, in the library studying." Dan grinned a bit. "I'm not sure what shocked them more, me answering the door just out of the shower with only a towel wrapped around my waist, or a few minutes later when Karen answered the phone with, 'Robbins residence' all nice and proper. She did that deliberately, just to rattle her folks. Told them she was practicing for when we were married."

Steve chuckled. "That's one way to make an impression on the future in-laws."

Dan's eyes had a faraway look in them again. "Yeah… Everything was going to plan, I was on track to graduate in three years, the last three semesters would have a lighter load and I would be able to join the force during that time, which would bring in extra money. I'd still be burning the candle at both ends every single day, but it was a plan, and it was working. Except for the fact that Karen didn't want me to be a cop."

Mike nodded, this part was an all too familiar story. "Scared of what would happen to you in the line of duty?" Many relationships suffered from the same strain, the unknown that every cop faced when he put on his uniform, or put his detective's shield in his pocket. Some spouses, girlfriends, or boyfriends in the case of the female officers found ways to deal with the uncertainty. Others couldn't. It wasn't anyone's fault, it was just a fact of life in law enforcement.

Dan nodded. "Scared her when I enlisted in the Army, but I think she was able to deal with that a little better because she wasn't going to have to see me head out every single day, she was a step removed from it all. Or maybe she just pretended that I was never in the hot spots. But knowing I wanted to be a cop, the two of us living together, she was going to have to see me walk out the door every day, and no amount of pretending was going to change things. But for a couple of years at least she didn't have to worry about it, those first two years of college. I think maybe she hoped I would change my mind."

"She never asked you to not be a cop?" Jeannie asked.

"Oh she did ask," Dan admitted. "Every time I made sure that if there was some kind of training or certification I would need to be ready to join the force, making sure I stayed on my schedule, she asked me wasn't there something else I could do. But she never made it a requirement for us staying together, because she knew how much it meant to me." Dan sighed, then looked at Jeannie. "She said that as much as she didn't want me to be a cop, she would never try to make me not be a cop, because that would be asking me to give up something that was important to me, entering public service. The fact that I wanted to be able to help people, to be out there," Dan waved a hand at the front window, "wanted to try and make a difference… That was part of what she loved about me, what made her fall in love with me. Making me choose to not do something I felt I needed to do would be like forcing me to become a different person, she always told me. And she couldn't do that. I wouldn't be the man she loved anymore, it would be too big of a change."

Dan got up and went over to the window, looking out at the quiet street. Most people were settling down for bed, or getting ready for midnight Mass or other church services. He could see lights from Christmas trees in the windows of the homes across the street, everything was peaceful outside. "First year was smooth, I was doing really well in all my classes, everything was on track. Then late in '69, we found out we were going to have a baby." Dan smiled a little then. "Having a baby before we were married, before I was out of college, that wasn't part of the plan. But sometimes no matter how careful you are, things happen. Blessings happen, as we said back then." Dan walked back over to the couch and sat down again, this time focusing on Mike. "We were excited. I was going to drop out, but Karen insisted that I keep on schedule for graduation. She was earning a very nice salary working for her Dad's company, and I'd fit odd jobs and part-time jobs in when I could so we had money saved up, we would be fine while Karen was on maternity leave. The one change I did make in my plan was that I would wait until after I graduated to enter the academy and join the force. Then in the summer of '70, our little girl was born. Karen had picked a boy's name, I got to pick a girl's name, and I named her Jessica." Dan grinned. "I kid you not, if we had had a boy, his name was going to be Michael."

Mike smiled kindly. "Sounds like Karen had good taste in names."

Dan nodded, his grin fading, a much more somber look crossing his features. "I didn't even get to hold her after she was born. Touch her, but not hold her." Dan closed his eyes, his voice shaking slightly as he relived the day. "Our little girl was born with spina bifida. It's also called open spine. Mike," he said, his voice cracking now, "I saw my little girl laying there with this… this sac of what the doctors told me was spinal fluid hanging from her lower back, she was crying, and I couldn't hold her. They had put her on Karen's chest for a few minutes after delivery, but even Karen didn't get to hold her for long." Dan looked at Mike, his eyes moist. "They didn't… the doctors didn't know all that much about spina bifida then – hell, they don't know that much about it now, really. They filled us all; Karen, our parents, me, with a lot of doom and gloom, telling us that she might not make it through the night, or might not survive more than a few days, weeks, months maybe. I watched one doctor examining my little girl – I know he wasn't trying to make her cry on purpose, but I was so close to punching him out. Fred stopped me, one of the few times we were equals, we were both fathers with daughters we loved." Dan gave a dry laugh then. "Wouldn't have looked good later on, to try to get on the force with punching a doctor on my record. One nurse, I know she was trying to help, but good grief… She offered to call a funeral home for us, to try and…" Dan's voice trailed off as he took a deep breath, gathering himself back together. "Fred shot her a look that shut her up really quick, and I have to give him credit, he and Leslie really stepped up for us that day. He told the doctors that they were to do whatever needed to be done to give Jessie the best chance possible, and he would pay for it, whatever it cost. Whatever insurance didn't cover, they would pay for it. And they did."

"Whatever they thought of you, and your and Karen's relationship, that was their grandchild," Steve interjected quietly.

Dan nodded, his attention still focused on Mike. "They operated on my baby before she was even twenty-four hours old. And she came through the surgery fine. It was a month before we could bring her home, though. And for the first year of her life we had to be so careful in handling her, everything had to be on her stomach, we couldn't put her on her back, had to be so careful with everything. I was in my last three semesters by that time and the course load wasn't too bad with as much as I had packed into the first two years, so I took on more part-time work and odd jobs to bring in an income. Which we needed that income more than we had thought we would before, back when a baby wasn't part of the plan yet. Karen needed to be with Jessie pretty much full time. People were scared to baby-sit for Jessie, they were afraid they would break her I guess. Some were afraid that somehow they would expose their children to Jessie's birth defect if they baby-sat her." Dan shook his head, frowning. "Birth defects don't work that way, but it was so hard to make some people understand."

"Oh Dan," Jeannie said, once again taking his hand in hers, unable to think of anything else to do or say.

Dan squeezed Jeannie's hand gratefully. "A couple of days before that first Christmas with Jessie, we took her to the hospital for a check-up, and she was doing great. I think some of those doctors were surprised that she was doing so well, and some of them started being slightly more optimistic about her chances of long-term survival. But we were cautioned that she might be partially paralyzed, unable to walk or to walk very well if she could walk, that she might have to have surgery on her legs, might have to have braces on her legs and use crutches, or a walker or a wheelchair. They warned us she might have learning disabilities. But they all had to admit that if you didn't look at her back, she looked just like any other happy, normal six month old baby." Dan smiled a little finally. "That nurse that had offered to call a funeral home for us didn't get near us that day, I think she probably felt bad about what she had said. We didn't blame her though. But another nurse came up before we left and said that a guy, they called him Mr. Jack, that he had fallen and broken his leg that day and wouldn't be able to play Santa for the kids in the children's ward on Christmas morning. The doctors and nurses had gotten toys, one for each child in the ward plus a few extra just in case other children were admitted over the next few days, but they didn't know who they could get to play Santa on such short notice. She was wondering if by any chance we knew anyone who could do it."

Steve looked at Dan, nodding. "And you volunteered. What did Karen say?"

Dan smiled and chuckled a little. "I volunteered without even thinking, it just felt like the right thing to do. After I said I'd do it, I thought Karen would probably hit me. But she just looked at me and smiled, a real smile, not a, 'I'll kill you later,' smile, and volunteered to be my helper, to be Mrs. Claus, if they liked." Dan looked at the Christmas tree, spying a cheery red glass ball ornament. "She had a red skirt, red like that ornament over there, and a white blouse, we could find a Santa hat for her, and Mr. Jack had already said that whoever could fit into his Santa costume could have it if they would play Santa for the kids. We called her folks that night and told them we would be late for lunch on Christmas Day, that we had plans to volunteer at the hospital. Fred and Leslie didn't get why we wanted to do it. My folks understood though, and were proud of us." Dan looked at Mike again. "My mom had already planned to give Jessica a red and white dress with white booties for Christmas, so we were set: Santa, Mrs. Claus, and their baby girl. The kids ate it all up, they loved it."

"Your little girl wasn't scared of you in the suit?" Jeannie asked.

Dan shook his head. "That did worry us, but we made sure she saw me putting on the beard, wig and hat so that she would know that it was still me, still her Daddy under the costume. I've got the picture we took that year, and the one we took the next, her sitting in my lap, me in the Santa suit. She loved the beard that first year, she kept feeling of it every time she got close enough to touch it." Dan smiled again, a faraway look in his eyes. "Once she turned one year old, we were finally able to handle her like a normal child. I sat down with her on our couch, lifted her up in the air like she was flying, and tossed her just a little bit and caught her. She laughed and squealed, wanted more. Our folks nearly had heart attacks I think. But we could finally play with her, didn't have to be so afraid. Even though the doctors were still telling us we might not have much time with her, we had hope. We believed that maybe the doctors were wrong, and that Jessie would be one of the ones that made it with few problems, if any. And I had graduated from college so we hit two milestones that summer. Karen and I were on top of the world, even with me finally in the academy, soon to be a police officer on the street, the one thing that had scared her all along." Dan sighed. "I didn't realize it was the beginning of the end."

Mike swallowed, worried about what they would hear next. "What happened?"

Dan got up and went to the window again, watching a car drive by. "I had a couple of minor injuries, nothing big. A sprained wrist while in the academy one time, mild concussion when a purse snatcher got lucky and knocked me down during a chase when I first hit the streets with Chet. Mild stuff, but it brought all of Karen's worries to the surface again. I reminded her that those things, a sprained wrist, mild concussion, those things could happen to anyone in any profession just from playing a game, or an accident around the house. I thought maybe she understood, had a grip on her fears. We volunteered to be Santa and Mrs. Claus again that Christmas, Jessie's second one. We made sure she saw me put on the beard, wig and hat again. Being a year and a half old she was a lot more aware of everything going on that Christmas, and was a little confused at first. But I pulled down the beard and showed her it was still me, then put the beard back on and put my finger to my lips, told her it was a secret. Oh, she loved that," Dan said with a small laugh. "We had a new game at that point, peek-a-boo with the beard. At the hospital in the playroom, whenever she felt like no one was looking, Jessie would toddle over to me, pull down my beard a bit and give me a kiss on the cheek. I'd pull my beard back up and she'd put her finger on her lips, it was our secret that it was me in the costume."

Dan turned back to face his friends, his smile fading. "Two days later I was on patrol alone, just barely out of field training, a full officer. My partner then, Tony, had called out sick, otherwise he would have been the one driving, I would've been the passenger. Probably ended up saving my life. I had just left a call about a car blocking a shop's back driveway, had driven a little over a block, was radioing in that I was available again… I don't know if the guy just stayed drunk from Christmas Day or was getting in an early start for New Year's Eve, but I had the green, was driving into the intersection, and I saw him barreling straight at me." Dan closed his eyes. "I can remember seeing his car, he was going to hit my passenger side, and there was nothing I could do, no time. I'm told that everyone within earshot of the speakers when I was calling in heard me shout, 'I'm getting hit!' and then heard the crash. To this day I don't remember that. I can remember holding the mic in my hand, seeing the car… Next thing I know I'm waking up in the hospital, Karen and my folks in my room, Karen holding Jessie – they'd given her special permission to bring her into my room – and Karen had been crying. I was pretty banged up, but it could've been so much worse, and Karen knew that. I had a broken arm, whiplash, cracked and broken ribs, my shoulder was messed up, and both of my legs were badly bruised up. I was lucky not to have a broken leg. Had a moderate concussion too." The dark-haired detective looked at the floor. "It was too much for Karen. I think the real breaking point was that night in the hospital, Jessie looking at me, touching my hand with one little finger… 'Daddy hurt?'" Dan's voice cracked a little then. "Karen's worst fears realized."

Steve stood up and put an arm around Dan's shoulders, offering silent support. Dan took at deep breath and looked at his friend, nodded gratefully and smiled. "She waited until I was released from the hospital and Jessie was asleep, and she told me she couldn't handle it anymore. She had tried, but she couldn't bear the thought of seeing me like that again, and really couldn't handle Jessie asking if I was hurt. What if the next time the answer to the question wasn't just yes, but that I was dead?" Dan let Steve lead him back to the couch, Jeannie pressing his coffee mug into his hands after he sat back down. "She wasn't going to leave me until she was sure that I was completely healed up, but she was leaving, and taking Jessie with her."

Mike cleared his throat. "Did you try to leave the force then?" he asked gently.

Dan nodded. "I told her I would quit the next morning, but she wouldn't let me. She didn't want me to change who I was, become someone other than the man she loved because she couldn't handle the pressure of loving a police officer. I kept hoping she would change her mind, I kept offering to leave the force – I typed up my resignation and was going to get her to drive me in to hand it in, but she tore it up. She knew that I wouldn't try to make her stay with me still on the force, and she couldn't forgive herself if I gave up something that I was good at, something that I wanted, believed in so much, because of her fears." Dan took a small sip of the cooling coffee, staring at the dark liquid in the mug. "She actually stayed longer than it took me to heal up, she wanted me to have as much time as possible with Jessie, and I think she was trying to see if maybe she _could_ handle it, give herself another chance of being with me, but in the end she couldn't. We had a big birthday party for Jessica, two years old and going strong. A couple of weeks after that, Karen and Jessie left. Karen promised that I would still see Jessie as often as possible, she wasn't about to cut me out of her life. I was her father, and that would never change. And Karen kept her word. I'm not sure if Jessie fully realized we weren't together anymore at that time, she saw me every week pretty much. That Christmas… Santa was by himself with the kids at the hospital. And I have been ever since. I saw Jessie later that day, and she sat in my lap, 'read' to me from her new book, 'T'was The Night Before Christmas'. I had been reading her that story the whole month, every time we were together, and she had gotten a bigger copy of the book as a Christmas gift. Of course, she was holding the book upside down and skipped several pages, and you didn't know a lot of what she was saying, but as far as she was concerned she was reading a story to her Daddy." Dan smiled, and put down the mug. "She was really good at saying, 'The end'."

"I bet she was adorable," Jeannie said with a soft smile, placing her hand on Dan's knee.

"A real heartbreaker," Dan agreed. "Karen stayed here in San Francisco for a few more months, through Jessica's third birthday, and then they moved to Baltimore. Fred was opening a branch of his company there, and wanted her to head it up with two other guys he had hand-picked. It was a fantastic opportunity for her. She promised I would get letters and phone calls and pictures, and I did. We kept talking about my coming out there to visit, or getting together when she would be back here to see her folks, but every time we planned something, something would get in the way. Sickness, work, bad weather, emergencies, just plain bad timing – every time we tried to plan things so I could see Jessie, something happened." Dan looked over at Mike. "And you know the rest now. Karen got married, the guy's name is Bob Watson. Bob short for Robert. He does consultant work, he's originally from here and his home office is here in San Francisco. He's been wanting to move back here, Karen's been wanting to move back, so they planned to do it as soon as possible after the wedding. Since Karen called me at work today and," he said, picking up the paper Steve had written the number down on, "since the number is local and not her folks' number, then they've got to be here."

Steve looked miserable. "Dan, I'm so sorry I forgot about the message – " he started, but Dan waved his hand.

"Don't worry about it, it's not your fault. I can call tomorrow." Dan gave Steve a hopeful smile. "Maybe now that they're back here, I can set up a time to see my little girl. I won't get my wish for the past few years, to hug my daughter on Christmas Day, not this year, but maybe next year." Dan stood up and stretched carefully. "Guys, I'm going to go ahead and get that shower and go to bed, I'm hurting more than I thought I would be. I'm sorry I'm not going to make Mass with you, but please don't decide to not go just because I'm not in any shape to go. Please?"

Jeannie and Steve both looked like they were going to protest, but Mike silenced them both with a look. "You go get some sleep Dan, you've more than earned it after today. We'll see you in the morning, and if you need anything during the night, wake me up, okay?"

Dan nodded and headed off to the spare bedroom to get his things. Jeannie knelt by her father's side. "Dad, we can't leave him here by himself, not like this!"

Mike patted Jeannie's hand and gave her a light kiss on her cheek. "I'm going to stay here with Dan, you and Steve go to Mass."

"He's not going to like it if he feels like you're trying to baby him," Steve warned.

"He'll really feel like we're trying to baby him if we all stay, he might even try to go back home, and I don't want him doing that, not tonight," Mike responded. "You two go ahead, I'll stay here with Dan."

Reluctantly, Steve and Jeannie got their coats and left for Mass, they would have just enough time to get to the church. Mike sat in his chair, going over everything Dan had revealed to them. The pain of Christmas for his partner made so much sense now – Christmastime marked when his family life changed dramatically. So many Christmases that he'd missed with his little girl, a child that doctors had warned might not live for very long. Mike got up and went into his bedroom and rummaged around in his closet for a few minutes until he found what he was looking for – an old photo album. He took it back with him into the living room and sat down on the couch, carefully opening the album. It smelled of old paper, leather, and if Mike lost himself just enough, he would always swear that he could still catch a hint of Helen's favorite perfume when he turned the pages. Mike turned a few pages, then stopped at a picture of him and Helen at a friend's birthday party. He ran a finger gently along Helen's face, tears threatening to well up in his eyes. "I miss you honey," he whispered. "You would know what to say right now, what to do." Mike allowed himself to get lost in the memory of that night, the laughter and high spirits. "I love you."

Mike slowly went through the old album, one he hadn't looked at in years. He stopped at a picture of Jeannie on a Christmas long ago and took it carefully out of the album. She was seven years old in it according to Helen's neat print on the back on the picture. He smiled, remembering how excited Jeannie had been to get the doll she had asked for from Santa Claus that year. The two years before she had asked her mother to help her write her letter to Santa, but that particular year she had asked him to help her, and to take her to the post office to mail it off, to make extra sure that it would not get lost on the way to Santa's workshop at the North Pole.

"Happy memory?" came Dan's voice. He'd made short work of his shower and was clad in blue pajamas, with a robe over them that seemed slightly too large for him.

"What, no greeting for me wrapped in only a towel?"

"That's only for prospective in-laws, sorry partner," Dan chuckled. At Mike's silent invitation he sat down on the sofa, still looking tired, but a bit more relaxed. Taking the offered picture from Mike, Dan grinned. "Jeannie?"

"Yep. Helen wrote on the back there that she's seven years old in that picture. I think she's still got that doll packed up somewhere, actually. She was really happy to get it from Santa that year, that doll baby was all she had talked about for almost two months before Christmas." Mike smiled as Dan handed the picture back to him, staring at the image of his little girl when she was still a little girl, and would sit in his lap to have him read a story to her. "She always loved to hear me read 'T'was The Night Before Christmas' to her too, it was a tradition we had for the longest time."

"Jessica is seven years old now."

Mike looked at his partner, watched Dan's face as he fought through his emotions, the young man very obviously determined not to cry. Mike waited until Dan seemed steadier before he spoke. "And now she's here in San Francisco. You'll be able to hold your little girl soon, Dan." Dan merely nodded in reply, not looking at Mike. "I honestly don't know what I would have done if Helen had ever left me, and took Jeannie with her. I would've understood if she couldn't handle the risks in my job anymore… But it would have hurt like hell."

"It does." Dan took a deep breath and finally looked at Mike. "I've learned not to dwell on it too much, not to keep going over everything and wonder what I could have done differently to help Karen deal with everything better. Not to think too much about how much I've missed… it would drive me crazy or eat me alive. Or both. But Christmas brings it all back. It's why I've always tried to keep busy on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day." Dan leaned back in the couch, still looking at Mike. "Last year was the first time I wasn't in uniform, working a patrol on Christmas after being Santa at Bayview. And I had just a little too much time with my thoughts. Christmas being on Saturday last year and my being off the whole weekend didn't help much either." Dan gave Mike a rueful look. "You do know me too well in some ways. I _was_planning to head in to work tomorrow," he then looked at the clock on the wall, "today, it is now, after being Santa at Bayview. Checking on Henry Brown's arrests last year would've kept me busy…" his voice trailed off as he looked at the still open photo album on Mike's lap.

"Would have kept you from thinking about this being another Christmas without your daughter, and this time with no way to contact her and Karen?" It was more a statement of fact than a question. His partner nodded. "And what if there was no Henry Brown to check out, what would you have done after Bayview? Another late lunch alone at a restaurant? Dan, how long were you planning on living like that?"

"I don't know!" Dan shouted, getting up and pacing. "I don't know what I would have done, I – I…" Dan stopped in the middle of the living room, out of steam and looking very much like someone who knew they didn't have anywhere else to run, Mike thought. "Was it so wrong for me to hope that time would heal wounds, not make them worse?"

Mike shook his head. "No, it wasn't wrong. But isolating yourself isn't the answer, and you know it or you wouldn't have accepted my invitation this time."

Dan sighed and sank down into the chair that Steve had been sitting in earlier. "You don't know how many times I almost called and begged off for staying tonight, that I would just pick you up in the morning if you still wanted to help, and afterwards… I don't know, maybe I would've stayed for lunch to be polite, but I probably would've excused myself from dinner. Still might, I don't know. Depends on how I feel after Bayview, I guess."

"What kept you from canceling tonight?" Mike asked gently as he closed the old photo album and placed it on the end table.

Long, quiet moments passed before Dan finally answered. "I guess I'm getting tired of being alone. Felt like the right thing to do. And I did give you my word, I didn't want you to think I'm one to make empty promises."

"I'd never think that, Dan. I would've wanted an explanation from you as to why you weren't coming over, but I would never think you weren't a man of your word."

"Did I make the right decision, Mike?"

"Tonight, or back then?"

"Both."

Mike sighed and walked over to his partner. "Tonight, yes. I was told once that sometimes a private guy needs to talk about his problems, even when he doesn't realize he needs to. Needs to know that he doesn't have to shoulder his burdens alone, you could say. As for that Christmas… If you had made Karen stay somehow in a living situation that she wasn't comfortable in, how long do you think the two of you could have stayed together and still loved each other? And would it have been the best thing for Jessica, living with that kind of tension?" Mike knelt down to make sure he had his partner's full attention. "And if you had quit the force for Karen, pretended like not being a cop, not being who you are was okay, would you really have been happy? Could the two of you stayed together any longer that way, with Karen knowing you so well?" Mike stood back up then and put his hand on Dan's shoulder. "For what it's worth, in spite of how bad it has to hurt, I think you and Karen did the right thing for yourselves and Jessica, you made the best decision you two knew how to make at the time. Not everybody has that kind of strength. I mean it when I say I'm not sure how I would have handled it if it were me. I probably would have fallen apart."

Dan gave Mike a sad but grateful smile. "Times like this, I feel like I _am_ about to fall apart."

Mike patted his partner's shoulder, then motioned for the younger man to stand up and head for the spare bedroom. "Go get some sleep, you'll feel better for it. First thing in the morning, you'll call Karen and get to talk to your little girl and you'll really feel better."

Dan allowed Mike to lead him towards the spare bedroom, but frowned. "You don't think it will be too early, considering when we need to leave?"

Mike laughed and smiled at Dan. "You may not remember what you were like at seven years old, but I full well remember Jeannie at that age. She was up by five-thirty Christmas morning, ready to see if Santa had stopped by. I'm willing to bet that Jessica will have Karen and Bob up by the crack of dawn, if not earlier."

Dan smiled. "Yeah, she probably will, won't she? And I can go ahead and set up a time to see Jessie, probably this coming weekend since I'll be off." Dan opened the door to the spare bedroom, his spirits already noticeably brighter. "Mike?"

"Yes?"

"Thanks. For everything. I owe you."

"You don't owe me a thing, Dan. Just love that little girl of yours. And Dan?" Mike said before Dan closed the bedroom door. "Merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas, Mike."


	5. Chapter 5

Mike watched as Dan sat by the phone, staring at the piece of paper in his hand. He was half-dressed, wearing his Santa boots and pants, and a plain white T-shirt just like on Christmas Eve – he'd explained that the suit got hot enough that it was easier on him to wear something thin underneath. "Nobody likes a sweaty Santa," Dan had said. Dan's hand hovered near the phone receiver, Mike almost felt like telling his partner that it wouldn't bite him, but held his tongue.

_He's got to come to this on his own, this is the first time he'll be talking to Karen or Jessica in a few months, give him time, Mike,_ he told himself. _You'd be nervous too_. Mike sipped his coffee, frowning at the ugly bruises on Dan's arms from the previous day's attack. _Thank God those weren't crowbars like I first believed they were that they used on him,_ he thought, sending a silent grateful prayer upwards. _He would've ended up in the hospital for sure if they had been, considering how bad these bruises are from just the wooden clubs Henry and Jake used._ The nastiest bruise that Mike could see, the one that Nana had insisted Dan keep iced had settled into a spectacular display of dark blue and purple which had to be hurting Dan more than he was letting on. It hadn't slipped Mike's notice that his partner had taken not two, but three Tylenols that morning at breakfast. Jeannie and Steve were still eating, having gotten a later start that morning than Dan and Mike, but Dan had been wearing his robe still so they hadn't seen the bruises. Mike wasn't sure if he wanted to know how bad the bruise on Dan's back had to be, or the one he likely had on his abdomen from Henry's hit when Dan had moved to try and disarm Jake.

Mike was lost enough in his thoughts that he missed Dan finally dialing Karen's number, his partner's voice breaking his reverie. "Merry Christmas to you too, Karen. It's Dan." Mike found himself holding his breath, wishing he could hear Karen's voice, know if the phone call was welcome or not.

He needn't have worried. Dan laughed and smiled, leaning back in the side chair Mike had been sitting in most of the night before. "Mike said she would probably have you both up before dawn, I can hear her, what is she playing with? What kind of doll?" Dan chuckled. "Sounds like she might wear the voice out on it before the day's over from this end." There was a pause and Dan smiled. "No, Karen, don't worry about that. I figured you had probably lost my information with everything you were having to deal with." Dan grinned and his voice took on a gentle teasing tone. "As I'm sure you remember, there was a very good reason I was the one who kept up with our address book, and why I had our important numbers taped to the desk _and_ the refrigerator with several pieces of tape." Dan nodded, his smile fading slightly, his expression taking on a resigned look. "Yeah, and your parents still don't ever relay anything to me. And they've never been reliable in giving you any information about me either. But that's nothing new. Look, how are you and Bob enjoying your first Christmas together, married?"

Mike watched as Dan frowned and winced. "Oh no – there's no chance of him getting a flight back for later today? Oh Karen, I'm so sorry… And this was supposed to be his first Christmas with the two of you, the first as a family…" Dan sensed he had company and turned to see Mike standing in the doorway to the kitchen. He motioned for his partner to come on into the living room. "Bob's snowed in in Chicago, bad weather canceled his flight yesterday and it's not looking good for him to get out today," he quickly said. "Who? Oh, that's my partner, Mike. I stayed with him, his daughter, and a friend of ours Steve, last night, I'm still at Mike's right now actually. Steve was Mike's partner before me – he's retired from the force, he's teaching at Berkley now. I think I've told you a bit about Steve before, right? I know I've talked about Jeannie and Mike. I was originally going to go to midnight Mass with them, but I was a bit too worn out from the dinner last night, we fed a lot of people. What?" Dan straightened up, a surprised look on his face. "How in the world did you hear about that? No, I'm okay, just got a bunch of bruises is all. It's in the paper? No, I've not seen today's paper yet. Mike and I got up early, we've already had breakfast, we'll be leaving for Bayview in a little while. Mike's going to be my helper today." Dan grinned and shot a wink at Mike. "I don't know that he'll be as cute as you were in the Santa hat, but he is looking pretty spiffy in his red sweater."

Mike wrinkled his nose at Dan and sat down on the couch. The conversation seemed to be going rather well between Dan and Karen, much to Mike's relief. He strongly suspected that Dan was going to have a much better Christmas than Karen would, though. From Dan's end of the conversation, he gathered that Karen and Jessica were going to Fred and Leslie's and were expected to stay there for the whole day, spending Christmas alongside various business associates of Fred's that had been invited for lunch and dinner. It sounded more like a chance for Fred to strengthen business relationships and potentially lay down groundwork for future deals than any kind of special time with family to him. There weren't going to be any children for Jessica to play with either from the sound of it. And without Bob able to be there for support, Karen would be miserable as well. But she would be the dutiful daughter and put in the appearance – as exasperating as her parents were, they were still her parents, and she loved them.

"Yeah, too bad you can't just ditch the lunch and dinner – you don't have anybody in your new neighborhood you could… Everybody's out visiting family, yeah. If Mike hadn't invited me over here, I have to admit, I would've been by myself today. Christmas… It's been lonely without you two, without my folks here," Dan admitted with a soft sigh. "But I got reminded last night that I do have another family, friends who care about me," Dan said with a smile at Mike. "Look, isn't there any way you can beg off for at least dinner tonight? I don't have much to fix a big dinner at my place, but the three of us could find a restaurant somewhere. I just don't like the idea of you two having to put up with your parents doing this, today of all days. Especially without Bob there with you." Dan nodded, a resigned look on his face. "Yeah, I know how they can be. But until you let them know you're not going to put up with it, they'll keep doing this. I know you love them, but you can't let them rule your life." Dan chuckled. "That's an idea, but I don't think you should start a habit of getting Jessica to pretend to be sick just to leave early. It would work, and believe me, if I were there I would be _very_ tempted, but…" Dan looked at Mike then. "I have it on good authority that you can't live like that, avoiding the issue."

Mike smiled and nodded, and watched as Dan wrote down Karen's address, and then gave her his address and phone number, then also gave her Mike's number after getting permission. "Call here if you change your mind, I can meet you at your place, we can meet at mine – I got Jessica a Knit Magic machine and an Easy Bake Oven for Christmas, will she like those? Oh good!" Dan sighed with relief. "I wasn't sure what to get her, she's growing up so fast. Does she know who you're talking to on the phone yet?" There was a pause, then Dan grinned. "Guess who, sweetheart? Merry Christmas!"

Mike chuckled, even from where he was sitting he could hear the delighted squeal of a young girl over the phone. For the next few minutes Dan talked with his daughter, his face lighting up, and looking happier than Mike had seen him in a long time. "Yes, I'll be seeing you soon, Mom and I were thinking maybe this coming weekend you could come over to visit me at my place. Would you like that?" Dan laughed and leaned back in the chair. The conversation continued on for a minute more, then Karen was back on the phone. "She sounds excited this morning," Dan chuckled. "I know you've probably been taking a bunch of pictures, I'd like some copies if you can get some… Thanks… You know, I don't like lying, but why not just tell your folks you've been invited somewhere else for Christmas and skip lunch and dinner with them, or at least dinner? It's not that far from the truth, I'll meet you somewhere and you really will have other plans, and you won't have to put up with all of that business schmoozing nonsense and social calendar planning your folks will be doing today. Jessie will be happier too… Think about it at least. I've got to finish turning into Santa, Mike and I need to hit the road here in a few minutes, but Steve and Jeannie will be here, so call this number if you change your mind. Mike and I will probably get back here somewhere close to one… Thanks, Karen. Hopefully Bob will be able to get the first flight out tomorrow morning if he can't get out later today. Give Jessie a hug for me. Call here if you change your mind, okay? Merry Christmas, and if I don't see you two today, I'll see all three of you this weekend."

Mike finished his coffee and watched Dan hang up the phone, a smile still on his face. "Jessie is so wound up this morning. Karen says I made a good choice with the presents I've picked for her, Jessie's been wanting one of those ovens, and the knitting machine." Dan bit his lip, a wistful look briefly crossing his face. "I really wish she had Bob there with her, at least she wouldn't feel so alone dealing with her parents today. He'd give her the support she needs to tell her folks how she feels." Before Mike could reply to that, Dan was looking at the clock on the wall and jumping up from the chair. "I need to finish getting ready. I'll be out in a couple of minutes, Mike."

"Take your time." Mike got up and took his coffee mug into the kitchen where Jeannie and Steve were, giving them a quick summary of the phone call between Dan and Karen.

"Sounds like they'll be at the most boring and dull Christmas gathering ever," Steve said with a frown. "Bet whatever fancy feast the Barber's have planned can't compare to what Jeannie's got going in here – I'm going to gain ten pounds today just from smelling everything!"

"You'll gain ten pounds if you keep sampling that chocolate fudge Dan was given, you mean," Jeannie teased.

"I've already gained those ten pounds," Steve laughed. "I may have to go on one of those hikes Dan likes to take to work off the weight!"

"A hike for you would be going to the corner store, Buddy-boy," Mike laughed, snitching a piece of fudge for himself, just barely avoiding a playful swat with a kitchen towel from Jeannie. Mike went back into the living room and looked at the information Dan had written down. Karen and Bob lived only about a fifteen to twenty minute drive with good traffic from Dan's place according to the address, so that would make visitation that much easier. Dan would see his little girl in a few days, or sooner if Karen decided to stand up to her folks and leave their gathering early. But at least he would see Jessica soon. And Dan wasn't going to be alone this Christmas. All in all, things were shaping up nicely.

"I'm almost ready, Mike," Dan called from the spare bedroom.

"We've got plenty of time," Mike called back, still staring at Karen's phone number and address. _Maybe… Maybe she just needs a little extra encouragement_, he mused. "Jeannie?" Mike called.

"Yes, Mike?" Jeannie said, coming out of the kitchen.

"Just how many sugar cookies will you be making today?"

"Probably too many," Jeannie laughed, then looked hard at her father. He had a look on his face that she knew a little too well. "What are you up to, Michael Stone?"

Mike grinned and picked up the phone. "Who, me? I'm just being Santa's helper, that's all."

SOSF SOSF SOSF SOSF SOSF SOSF SOSF

Mike leaned against the wall outside of the patient's room he had just exited. "Burned so badly," he whispered to himself. "Only five years old…"

"You okay?" a gentle voice asked.

Mike took a deep breath and nodded, patting Dan's shoulder. His partner had warned him about cases like this in the children's ward. _The seriously ill, seriously injured, the terminally ill… Those are the ones that will hit you hard, Mike,_ Dan had said in the car on the way to the hospital. _It'll be like someone's punched you in the gut and stabbed your heart while they were at it. But sometimes those children will be the brightest, happiest spirits you'll ever meet._ Mike had of course always known that there were seriously injured and ill children in the ward at Bayview at any given time, but knowing was one thing. Actually going into the room of one of those children, talking with the child and their parents, that was something else entirely.

"I'll be all right," Mike assured him. "She was a victim of that last suspected serial arsonist fire?"

Dan nodded. "Not too far from Bill Tanner's neighborhood, from what he said last week. She's lucky to be alive, her whole family is."

"Lucky? As bad as those burns are, you call that lucky?!"

"Mike, I've seen worse. Emily in there, she'll have scars on her legs and her left arm yes, but she'll recover. Three years ago, a little boy was brought in a couple of days before Christmas, burned over seventy percent of his body. When I walked in, his grandparents were with him. I sat with him that morning, Santa was one of the last people he saw, if he was even really aware of me. He died that Christmas Day, late in the afternoon. His parents died in the fire – overloaded electrical outlet was the cause. His grandparents got a letter to me later through the hospital, thanking me for making their grandson happy in his last hours, they were certain he knew Santa was there, sitting with him." Dan looked back at the closed door to Emily's room, listening to the little girl's laughter as she played with the doll Santa and his helper had given her. "Emily's going to be just fine."

"How do you deal with it, Dan? The ones you know aren't going to be fine? Dan, how many children over the time you've done this…?"

"How many have died?" Dan closed his eyes and took a deep breath as he too now leaned against the wall. "Eleven that I know of. Ethan, the little boy from three years ago, plus David, James and Allison were all burn victims. Sally, Wendy, Tammy and John, they all had cancer. Randy had double pneumonia. Elizabeth died from injuries in a car accident. Eddie was a victim of child abuse."

"You remember all their names?"

Dan nodded. "Said a prayer for each one of them, and their families. As for how I deal with it… I remember that Santa made them smile, that they were happy. I choose not to remember them in pain. And I remind myself that for them now, there is no more pain." Dan smiled a sad smile. "I remember their courage. Seems like the ones who are the sickest are the ones who end up cheering you up instead of the other way around, you know?" Dan straightened up and patted Mike's shoulder. "And on the quiet nights, when there's no one around… That's when I can let it out. And then I remember the laughter and smiles again. Mike, for all it hurts to see these kids like this? Doing a little something to help them laugh and smile, making their day by doing something so simple as just talking to them for a few minutes… We're the ones getting the real blessing today. You get more than you give when you do this."

Mike smiled, and gave a little chuckle. "Jeannie was right when she called you an onion last night."

Dan laughed then. "Partner, you don't know the half of it. There's still plenty you don't know about me. But you're stuck with me for a while, so maybe you'll find out some more in the years to come."

Mike smiled and followed Dan down the hallway. They had visited the children who were too ill or badly injured to go to the playroom first, spending time with them and their families and giving them their Christmas presents. The number of children in the ward had indeed gone down to fifteen, with six children unable to go to the playroom. The nine remaining children would be waiting for them in the playroom, waiting for Santa and his helper to appear. "I'll ferret out your mysteries, Speedy, just you wait," Mike joked. His expression turned serious though as he turned to look back at Emily's room. "Five years old… I hope that arsonist is caught soon."

"Bill said he's heard that the man who was hurt in the fire before the one set at Emily's house isn't doing very well. He's been here for a month, every time he seems to get a little better he has a setback. Doesn't sound good. If he doesn't make it, that will make it a homicide in addition to arson, so we might get put on the case before it's all over with."

"Olsen might get us to help out anyway," Mike pointed out. "Which I may go ahead and volunteer to help, you and I don't have any active cases at the moment. Whoever has been setting these fires has got to be stopped."

"You want to do it for Emily."

Mike nodded. He hadn't moved from where he had stopped in the hallway, still looking at Emily's room. For all the scares he had had with Jeannie when she was little, they had all been normal ones: a bad case of the flu here, broken arm there. The chicken pox and the measles had been the worst. But those were all things that many children endured while growing up. How in the world Emily's parents were holding up as well as they seemed to be, he couldn't imagine. _If that was Jeannie at five years old in that room…_ Mike cleared his throat. "That arsonist has done more than enough damage, wreaked too much havoc on too many lives, one man might not make it, now a child has been hurt like that… Yes. I want to stop him for Emily. I want to make sure he doesn't get the chance to hurt anyone else ever again."

Dan put his arm around Mike's shoulders, finding himself in the unexpected role of comforter. "She's going to be just fine Mike. And we'll find the guy who did this." Dan got Mike moving again towards the playroom. "Remember Emily's smile, Mike. It wasn't just Santa who made her happy today, you did too. You reminded her of her grandfather. Picking up her spirits like that, you gave her something a lot more precious than the doll she's playing with. When she goes to sleep tonight, she'll remember Santa gave her the doll alright. But the thing that will make her feel the best is remembering that Mister Mike, Santa's helper, sang 'Frosty The Snowman' to her like her grandfather does. And that you made her laugh."

"That was more you than me making her laugh, Daniel."

Dan smiled, stopping just outside of the playroom to check and make sure his beard and wig were still securely in place. "You did more than your fair share, Mike. Giving Emily and all the kids here some time where they can forget how sick or hurt they are, giving them a chance to laugh and be happy and forget how scary and lonely a hospital can be? Mike, you're giving them the best medicine of all." Satisfied his beard and wig hadn't slipped, Dan put his hand on the door handle, looking at Mike before opening the door. "Ready?"

Mike grinned. "Got my best smile on, Santa," he replied. "Say… I know this is really early, but… Well… Daniel, if you need a Santa's helper for this visit next year –"

"You'll be the first person I ask, Mike." Dan smiled and opened the door with a merry, "Ho, ho ho!" Delighted shouts from the children in the playroom washed over them both, filling Mike with a sense of joy and lightness that he never would have expected, considering the setting. A little four year old boy skipped over to Mike, seemingly oblivious to whatever ailed him, and gave him a tight hug around his leg. "Thank you for bringing Santa, Merry Christmas!" he said, beaming up at Mike. "Is he your Daddy?"

Mike laughed out loud and knelt down by the little boy. "No, but I'm a friend and his helper today. Have you been a good little boy?" At the youngster's nod, Mike grinned, stood up, and took the boy's hand to lead him over to where Dan had been seated for pictures with the children. "Then let's go see Santa. And Merry Christmas to you too, young man."

Mike would tell Jeannie years later that he was sure he felt Helen's arms around him hugging him as he played with the children that Christmas morning, and was sure she was watching him every Christmas thereafter that he was in the children's ward.

SOSF SOSF SOSF SOSF SOSF SOSF SOSF

Dan sank gratefully into the passenger seat of Mike's car, closing his eyes for a few moments, feeling the muscles in his bruised back slowly relax as his partner cranked the engine and they started to leave the hospital. The kids in the playroom had been extra excited this year it seemed, and had wanted Santa and Mister Mike to play every single game in the playroom with them before they left. Dan chuckled, remembering how Mike had sat cross-legged at a small child-sized table, joining two little girls in a tea party they were having with their new dolls. Billy, a four year old boy had come over to them, asking if Mister Mike was sure he wasn't Santa's son. All of the kids had flitted between Mike and Dan, excited and happy as much about the time with Santa and his helper as they were about their new toys. Before too long Mike had gotten all of the children singing "Jingle Bells" as loud as they could, much to the amusement of the parents, nurses and doctors gathered in and around the playroom. One of the older nurses had even given Mike her phone number. Dan chuckled, earning himself a light tap on his arm.

"What are you laughing about?"

"Oh, just you, picking up nurses at the hospital. Wait till I tell Jeannie and Steve!"

"You wouldn't dare!"

"Wouldn't I?" Dan grinned. "By the way, I know you called home before we left the children's ward, do we need to stop anywhere for Jeannie on the way back?"

Now it was Mike's turn to grin. "Actually, yes we do. We need to stop at one place before we get back home." Mike looked at his partner and laughed at the curious look on the young Inspector's face. "You just sit back and relax, it won't take long."

"Now who's being an onion?" Dan jokingly groused, but gratefully accepted the invitation to merely sit and relax as Mike negotiated the streets. Closing his eyes, Dan smiled as he played back the last few hours in his head, remembering the smiles and laughter from the children, Mike being probably the biggest kid of them all as he helped various boys and girls open their presents and begin to play. _Mike is going to make a wonderful grandfather one day_, he thought. _Maybe sooner rather than later if Steve and Jeannie will finally realize how much they mean to each other._

Dan was still a bit worn out from everything that had happened the day before, and didn't even realize he had dozed off in the car until Mike tapped him on the shoulder. "Do you have your house key with you, or should I use my spare to get us in?"

"Hmm?" Dan asked drowsily. "I didn't bring my keys – wait, what?" Dan blinked and sat up straighter as he realized they were parked in his driveway. "What are we doing at my place?"

"Oh, there's a couple of things here you need to carry over to the house for Christmas," Mike said as they made their way to Dan's front door.

"Did I forget something?" Dan asked, more than a bit confused as Mike used his spare key to Dan's house to let them in.

"Yes you did."

"What, the Barbie doll Christi said I needed to give to Jeannie?" Dan smiled. "I'm afraid that's going to have to wait until I can get to a store tomorrow and find one."

"No, you forgot something you already have here. A Knit Magic machine and an Easy Bake Oven, I believe you said you had gotten for Jessica for Christmas, right?"

Dan automatically went to the hall closet where the two presents were tucked away, wrapped neatly in cheery Christmas paper. "Yeah, I'll be giving them to Jessie this coming weekend most likely – wait, why do I need to take them to your place?"

"So you can give them to her today. At my place."

Mike prided himself on having quick reflexes, but Dan's dropping of one present definitely put them to the test. Still, he managed to save the gaily wrapped box from hitting the floor, and quickly took the other present out of Dan's hands before he dropped that one also. "Your place – what?!" Dan finally managed to get out as Mike secured the two presents in his arms and started to steer Dan to the front door. "Mike, what did – what have you – what's going on?"

Mike chuckled, putting the presents back in Dan's hands once they were out of the house so he could lock the front door. "While you were busy turning yourself into Santa Claus, I took the liberty of calling Karen myself, officially giving her someplace else to go for Christmas, for both lunch and dinner. I thought that maybe she just needed a little extra encouragement," he grinned, watching his still open-mouthed and in shock partner half-walk, half-stumble to the car. "I also gambled that perhaps her folks would find it more difficult to give her a hard time about accepting an invitation for Christmas lunch and dinner from a senior detective with the police department than with you." Mike took the presents from Dan's hands and put them in the back seat of the car, then prompted his young partner to get in. "Turns out my gamble paid off."

"Fred and Leslie aren't screaming about this, that Karen and Jessie are going to see me today?" Dan asked, incredulous.

Mike chuckled. "According to what Karen told Jeannie when she called to confirm they were coming over for both lunch and dinner, her folks couldn't say too much. Apparently Karen made the announcement that she and Jessie wouldn't be staying after several of the other guests had arrived, and as it turns out, a couple of them know me. Not something I expected, but it worked in Karen's favor." Mike grinned. "I may not move in those higher social circles, but not everyone in those circles has forgotten where they came from. One Charlie Dunham happens to not only be one of the guests today and one of Fred's best golfing buddies, he's also a good friend of mine, from back when I first joined the force. Once Karen said who she had accepted an invitation from, Charlie spoke very highly of me, and told them that you," Mike tapped Dan's arm, "must be an excellent detective yourself if I had you as my partner."

Dan simply stared at Mike, unable to speak for a moment. He finally found his voice, "Mike, I don't know what to… You have no idea what this means to me…"

Mike smiled kindly at his partner and rested a hand on Dan's shoulder for a brief moment as they sat at an intersection, waiting for the light to change. "I think I may have an inkling," he said. "I'm a father too, don't forget. I know how I would feel if it were me, and I hadn't been able to see Jeannie since she was three years old. Letters, phone calls and pictures are wonderful, but there's nothing like being able to hold your child in your arms."

Mike watched the dark-haired man blink back the tears that threatened to well up in his eyes. "Thank you Mike," Dan managed with only a slight crack in his voice. "I don't know how I'll ever be able to pay you back for this, but somehow I'll find a way. I owe you again."

"Don't try to get me to try carrot juice and we'll call it even," Mike joked as the light changed and they were on the move again. "You don't owe me a thing, Dan. Besides, who says that Santa can't get a Christmas wish granted on Christmas Day?"

Dan chuckled, fingering his Santa beard, then grinned and laughed harder. "I wish I could have seen the look on Fred and Leslie's faces when Mr. Dunham complimented me like that."

"Almost, but not quite apoplectic is what she told Jeannie," Mike replied. "Apparently she's not seen her father be that speechless in a very long time." Mike laughed himself then. "But I'm willing to bet it doesn't compare to you greeting them in just a towel at the door."

Dan laughed almost to the point of tears. "If it came anywhere close, then it was priceless!" Dan leaned his head back and smiled. "I'm going to get to see my little girl today. Christmas Day."

"Merry Christmas, Mr. Robbins."

"Thank you Mike. For everything."

"You'd do the same for me, Daniel."

They rode on in happy silence for about a minute before Dan shifted in his seat. "You know, if we put on the siren we could –"

"Behave yourself, Speedy!" Mike admonished, but couldn't quite hide a grin. "We'll get there in due time without using a siren in a non-emergency situation."

"So says the man who hasn't missed his only child's last four Christmases," Dan grumbled, but there was no heat in his voice, his tone reflecting only his eagerness to see his daughter as soon as possible. Dan stared ahead in silence for a minute, then leaned over slightly to his partner. "I do know a few shortcuts…"

Mike chuckled. "Now _that_ we can do."

SOSF SOSF SOSF SOSF SOSF SOSF SOSF

Mike had to admit, Dan certainly did know some shortcuts between their homes, some of them more creative than others, and the senior detective wasn't sure he wanted to know just how Dan had learned all of them. Still, it shaved almost four minutes off of their time, causing Mike to carefully review all of them in his mind and file them away for future reference. Dan nearly jumped out of the car before Mike could come to a full stop, causing Mike to grab his partner's left arm a little more firmly than intended, eliciting a sharp hiss from the younger man. "Sorry," Mike apologized, realizing he must have squeezed one of the many bruises on his partner. "But you need to wait until I've got this thing parked, Daniel!"

Dan fidgeted for the next few seconds as Mike parked the car, then nearly exploded out of the passenger door, his Santa hat flying off in his haste. Mike chuckled and shook his head, picking up the hat and getting the forgotten presents out of the back seat, then shook his head again as Dan ran back and took the presents from him with a rushed and breathless, "Thank you!" before charging to the front door. An unfamiliar blue Chevy was parked behind Steve's Porsche, which had to mean that Karen and Jessica were in the house.

So Mike was surprised when he actually caught up to Dan, the young man's hand frozen on the doorknob. Mike put the forgotten Santa hat back on Dan's head, completing the Santa outfit and started to ask his partner what he was waiting for when he heard a young girl's voice through the door. "He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work, and filled all the stockings, then turned with a jerk."

"She's reading to them," Dan said with a smile, leaning against the door. Mike silently chuckled, listening to Jessica as he took the presents from Dan so that his partner could quietly enter the home, still fully dressed up as Santa. "She's not facing me, she won't see us," he whispered after he'd cracked open the door just enough to get a quick look inside.

"Well go on!" Mike softly urged. They managed to enter the house without alerting the seven year old girl, but their entrance was duly noted by both Jeannie and a woman with long, light brown hair and brown eyes. Both women smiled, but didn't let on that someone else had entered the home. Steve was sitting on the floor with Jessica, the young girl was reading the story to him, Jeannie and the other woman, and was nearly to the end.

"But I heard him exclaim, as he drove out of sight," she started, only to whirl around as she heard the front door close.

"Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good-night!" Dan shouted in his Santa voice. "Ho, ho, ho!"

"Santa!" Jessica exclaimed, dropping the book into Steve's lap as she scrambled to her feet to greet the jolly elf. "Mommy didn't tell me you would be here!"

"Oh she didn't, did she?" Dan chuckled. "Who did she say you would see here today, then?" Dan gave Karen a quick glance, and her impish smile told him what he needed to know – whatever Karen had told their daughter she hadn't mentioned Dan being there, she wanted that to be a surprise for their seven year old.

Jessica looked at Steve and Jeannie, "Well, she told me that Mr. Steve and Miss Jeannie would be here, and that we would be waiting for Mister Mike to get here before we had lunch." Jessica looked over at Mike then, who was putting the two presents for the little girl under the Christmas tree. "Are you Mister Mike? Miss Jeannie's Daddy?" she asked.

Mike grinned and gently ruffled the girl's hair. "I certainly am," he answered. "So your Mommy didn't tell you about Santa being here, she let that be a surprise?"

Jessica nodded, just a little shyly, ducking her head down a little and stepping closer to Dan as he knelt down by her. "Thank you for inviting us to your Christmas, Mister Mike," she said.

Mike grinned. "How about you call me Uncle Mike? I do know your Dad after all, and he's like family to me," he told the little girl, earning himself a warm smile from Dan.

Jessica's eyes grew bigger and her face lit up. "You know my Daddy?"

Mike smiled. "I most certainly do, he's my partner on the police force, he's a detective like I am."

Jessica bounced happily. "Then you can help Santa with my Christmas wish!"

"Oh?" Dan asked, immediately getting his daughter's full attention as he spoke again. "Did you not get what you wanted for Christmas this year?"

The young girl bit her lip and looked at her mother, as if looking for permission to say something. Karen smiled and nodded, so Jessica looked at 'Santa', tilting her head to the side much the same way that Dan had done to Mike the day before, startling the older detective a bit as he realized just how much his partner's daughter resembled her father, not just in looks but in manner. Shoulder length dark brown hair held back from her face by two red barrettes, her father's smile, but with dark brown eyes like her mother and her mother's features. "Before I ask, are you the real Santa, or are you a Santa's helper like the ones in Baltimore?"

Dan paused a moment, gently putting a gloved hand on his daughter's back. As tempting as it was to say he was the real Santa, he opted to go with the closer truth. "Well, actually I am one of Santa's many helpers," he admitted. "Santa has a lot of work to do on Christmas, so we helpers pitch in to make it easier for him to see all the boys and girls all over the world."

He wondered if he had made the right choice as his daughter's face took on a sad look. "Oh," she said, looking down for a moment. But then she brightened up and looked at Mike. "But you're a detective, so you can help this Santa with my wish!"

"What is your wish, sweetie?" Dan asked gently. "Was there a toy you didn't get that you really wanted?"

Jessica shook her head no. "No, I got almost all the toys I wished for, and clothes too. But that's not what I really wanted for Christmas." Jessica looked back at her mother again, silently asking with a look if it was okay to say what she wanted to say. With another nod and smile from Karen, Jessica turned back to Dan. "I've been wishing for my Daddy for Christmas for forever, but we've been in Baltimore and I've not been able to see him. I've sent him letters and talked to him on the phone, but I've not seen him since I was little and I was too little then to remember him now," she said in a rush. "But Mommy shows me pictures of him all the time so I know what he looks like, but I want to see him for Christmas. Mommy said we'll see him on Saturday, but I wanted to see him today because it's Christmas and I miss him 'cause he's my Daddy. Can you find him? If Mister – if Uncle Mike helps you?"

Karen smiled and spoke finally. "It's all she's talked about since Bob and I told her we were moving back to San Francisco, wanting to see her Daddy this Christmas. She's wished for that from Santa every single Christmas since she was four. She got to talk to her father this morning on the phone and I don't think she's wound down since."

Before Dan could say anything Jessica started again, "I mean, I have a step-daddy now, Bob, and he's really nice and I really, really like him, but I want my Daddy too." She looked down and twisted her hands, then looked back up at Dan and gave him a worried look. "Am I being greedy, Santa? To want my Daddy when I have a step-daddy now?"

It was all Dan could do not to rip off his Santa disguise right then and there. He gently pulled Jessica into a hug, looking at his friends. Jeannie was already holding back tears, having taken Jessica's place on the floor beside Steve, the former detective slipping an arm around her. Karen gave Dan an encouraging nod, she would let him handle this, have this moment. Mike patted Dan's shoulder and smiled, giving him an unmistakable, 'You're doing just fine,' look. "Sweetheart, you're not being greedy at all," Dan assured his daughter. "There's a lot of children with step-parents out there. But having a step-parent doesn't mean you have to stop wanting to see your parents, be with them, have to stop loving them. Wanting to see someone you love and miss a whole lot is a good thing, it means you're keeping them in your heart no matter how far away they might be."

"Honest?"

Dan chuckled a little. "Honest. In fact, I know your Daddy too, just like Uncle Mike here does. I've actually known him all of my life," he said with a grin, setting all of the adults in the room to small fits of silent laughter.

"Really?" Jessica asked, bouncing a little again.

"Really," Dan assured her. "In fact, I know a little story about you and your Dad when you were only one and a half years old."

"That long ago?" Jessica asked, honestly amazed.

Dan laughed and rubbed his daughter's back a little, dropping his Santa voice and talking normally. "Yes, that long ago. You see, your Daddy is a Santa's helper just like me, and when you were little he and your Mom made sure you saw him putting on his beard, wig and Santa hat so you wouldn't get scared and think your Daddy wasn't there anymore, that he was someone else."

Jessica spun around and pointed at her mother. "Mommy told me that story, she's got a picture of me in Daddy's lap!" she exclaimed. "Mommy says that I pulled down Daddy's beard and kissed him on the cheek and acted like I was playing peek-a-boo with him with the beard…" Jessica's voice trailed off as she turned back around and stared at 'Santa', once again tilting her head much the way her father did. Slowly she lifted up her hand and touched Dan's beard, then gently tugged it down, revealing her father's face. "DADDY!" she yelled, launching herself into his arms, wrapping her own arms tightly around his neck. "You're here, you're here!"

Dan laughed and hugged his daughter, nearly falling over with the excited child. He didn't even notice Mike taking the hat and wig off of his head, or Karen and Jeannie taking a couple of pictures of the happy reunion. "Merry Christmas Jessie," Dan said, giving his daughter a kiss on her cheek. He gently moved her to arm's length from him, smiling and looking at her from head to toe. "You have grown up so much, sweetie!" he declared, then pulled her into another hug. "I've missed you."

"I've missed you too, Daddy," Jessica replied, giving her father a kiss on the cheek. A few moments later she turned around and frowned at her mother. "You knew Daddy would be here and you didn't tell me!" she scolded, her tone not angry but annoyed.

Karen chuckled and crossed over to Dan and Jessica, kneeling down by her daughter. "I wanted you to be surprised Jessica, I wanted seeing your Daddy to be a special Christmas surprise. Are you mad at me?"

Jessica bit her lip again and frowned at her mother, but her eyes were twinkling and she was smiling and hugging Karen in short order. "I love you Mommy!" she shouted, then turned back to Dan and half-tackled him again with another enthusiastic hug. "I love you Daddy!"

"I thought you liked me best," Steve gently teased, smiling at the happy little girl.

Jessica gifted Steve with a smile. "I like you too Mr. Steve," she said, before turning back to Dan. "Mr. Steve needs a girlfriend, can Santa give him one?" she asked suddenly.

It was all Mike could do not to burst out laughing at the look on Steve's face – or Jeannie's for that matter as both of them blushed and Steve tried to think of something to say, but failed. Dan for his part recovered quickly from his surprise at the sudden change in subject, managed not to laugh and took his daughter's hand. "Why do you say Mr. Steve needs a girlfriend, he might already have one."

The dark-haired little girl shook her head emphatically. "No he doesn't, Miss Jeannie told him in the kitchen that she still thinks he needs better eyelashes so that he'll have better luck finding a girlfriend." Jessica gave her father a puzzled look, not seeing how red both Steve and Jeannie were turning, giving each other sidelong looks. "Why does he need better eyelashes to get a girlfriend? I think he has nice eyelashes, I looked at them before I started reading the book."

Steve cleared his throat and stood up, coming over to put a hand on Jessica's shoulder, his face returning to a somewhat normal color. "Thank you Jessica," he said in a very proper tone of voice before turning and shooting an arched eyebrow at a now giggling Jeannie. "It's nice to know that someone around here appreciates me as I am."

Mike chuckled and walked over to Steve, putting his arm around his former partner's shoulders. "Jessica my dear, Steve doesn't have a problem getting a girlfriend –"

"Thank you, Mike."

"- he has a problem keeping them, that's where he needs help," Mike finished, earning himself a half-hearted glare from Steve.

"Whose side are you on anyway?" he grumbled, then looked down as Jessica tugged on his hand. "Yes, Jessica?"

Jessica gave him a very serious look. "I can be your girlfriend until you find one you can keep," she offered. "That way you won't feel left out for not having a girlfriend."

It was Jeannie who giggled first, Dan, Karen and then Mike following, unable to hold back their laughter. Steve fought against his own fit of laughter as he knelt down by Jessica and gave her a hug. "Thank you sweetie," he replied as seriously as he could. "How about we go into the kitchen and see if it looks like the turkey Jeannie's been roasting is done yet?"

"Okay!" Jessica agreed brightly, taking Steve's hand as he guided her to the kitchen. "Mr. Steve?"

"Yes?" Steve asked stopping at the kitchen entrance.

Jessica was looking back at her still laughing parents, Mike and Jeannie, a puzzled look on her face. "Why are grown-ups so weird sometimes?"

Steve grinned and snickered a bit. "I have no idea, Miss Jessica. No idea at all."


	6. Epilogue

"Uncle Mike!" Jessica shouted breathlessly, running from the kitchen to where Mike was seated in the living room.

"Hey, slow down there, you don't want to trip and fall," Mike chuckled as he picked the excited girl up and settled her into his lap. Jessica simply shrugged her shoulders, however.

"I fall down a lot Uncle Mike, it's okay," she replied. "I've gotten really good at falling down and not getting hurt too much. Except for when I hit my head in kindergarten," she said, pushing back her bangs just enough to show a scar on the left side of her forehead. "I scared Mommy pretty bad that time. Daddy too, he called that night and Mommy told him what had happened." Jessica frowned a bit then, giving the senior detective a serious look that was very much like her father's. "I think he was upset he wasn't in Baltimore with us right then, I think it scared him more than Mommy. But my bangs hide where I hit my head – " she started, then quickly looked around her to see if Dan or Karen were nearby. "And I don't talk about it around Mommy, or when Daddy calls on the phone," she whispered. "They get scared when I fall down because of my back."

Mike's eyebrows lifted slightly at that. He supposed he shouldn't be surprised that the little girl knew something was different about herself, but it was still startling to hear her acknowledge it so openly. "They worry that you'll hurt your back, do they?" he asked.

The seven-year-old nodded somberly. "Mommy told me I was born with a birth defect, which is why I don't run very well or can stand up real straight. She told me after I got teased in kindergarten by a couple of mean second grade boys for being clumsy and slower than everybody else. She said what it's called but I can't say it right, but she said it's also called open spine." Jessica frowned then. "Don't know what that means, but Mommy said the doctors fixed up my back when I was a baby so I'm okay now, I'm just more clumsy than the other kids and have a bad back is all. She said she and Daddy will tell me more when I'm older and can understand it better." The brown-eyed child looked up at Mike then. "I'll be eight years old next year, will that be old enough?"

Mike smiled and gave her a hug. "Maybe so. I think you're a very smart little girl, smart just like your Mommy and Daddy I'll bet. And I'm willing to bet you're just as smart as the rest of the boys and girls in your class at school, am I right?"

Jessica grinned and giggled a little. "I'm the best speller in the whole class, my teacher Miss Deborah says so!"

"Well there you go then," Mike grinned. "Now did you run in here to tell me the sugar cookies are ready, or was there something else?"

"Oh!" Jessica exclaimed, then looked around again to see if anyone else was around. With a wide-eyed look that plainly said she had something very important to tell Mike, she leaned close to his ear and whispered, "Uncle Steve and Aunt Jeannie are boyfriend and girlfriend now!"

"Oh really?" Mike asked, trying to keep a serious look on his face. "How do you know this?"

Jessica's eyes grew wide again, not noticing her father and mother coming back into the house from their walk. "I saw them kissing!"

"Saw who kissing?" Karen asked.

"Uncle Steve and Aunt Jeannie!" Jessica exclaimed softly, looking back towards the kitchen to see if the two people she was talking about were coming out yet. "They're boyfriend and girlfriend now, but I don't think they want you to know yet, I think they want to keep it a secret."

"Well now, since you've told us it's not much of a secret, is it Jessie?" Dan smiled, playfully ruffling his daughter's hair.

"Well, I had to tell Uncle Mike, he's Aunt Jeannie's Daddy so he's supposed to know! Right?"

Karen chuckled and took Jessica's hand, getting her to hop off of Mike's lap and follow her to the kitchen. "Yes, he did need to know, Jessica. But let's not tell Uncle Steve or Aunt Jeannie that he knows just yet. They need to do that themselves, okay?"

"Okay!" Jessica agreed. "Will they tell him after we have the sugar cookies?"

Dan chuckled as Karen's answer was lost as she and Jessica entered the kitchen. "Just pray she still feels the same way when she's old enough to start dating, Daniel," Mike teased.

"She's not dating until she's thirty. At least."

"Good luck with that one, Speedy. She's got the best of both you and Karen, she'll have boyfriends lined up before she's fifteen."

Dan gave a pained smile then. "If she makes it to fifteen, I won't care how many boys line up. They just need to be good to my little girl."

Mike smiled and motioned for Dan to sit on the couch. "I've got a feeling Jessica is going to have a nice long life ahead of her. I talked to one of the doctors, one of the younger ones today at Bayview about spina bifida. He said that some doctors now are rethinking a few things about children born with that defect, that they're seeing children with the milder form doing very well, and quite a few of them living pretty normal lives. Apparently he was in Los Angeles until about six months ago and had a couple of patients with spina bifida. It's why Bayview wanted him so badly, he's got experience with it that most of the other doctors who are there currently don't have."

"Dr. McCallum, by any chance?" Dan asked. "While we were out walking, Karen was telling me about getting settled here and she was referred to him for Jessie. She's got an appointment with him in a couple of weeks," Dan started, looking at the kitchen before turning back to Mike. "I'd like to be there."

"I'll make sure you've got the day off," Mike said, a gentle smile on his face. "Don't worry about it."

Dan grinned as he heard his daughter's giggling drifting from the kitchen. "I'm going to have to get a camera now, I need to take pictures for my folks, send them to them. Karen's always been the picture-taker. My parents have been talking about coming out for a visit in a few months, they'll be thrilled to see Jessie and Karen again. I think they'll like Bob too once they meet him."

Mike smiled, then snapped his fingers. "Your folks, that reminds me, I've got a question for you. You've joked before that your folks weren't rich enough to afford cockles, and I know what you told me yesterday. But I also know that you attended private schools growing up, and went to summer camp, we've talked just a bit about that before. Private schools take money, so do summer camps, so just how did all of that happen if your folks didn't have much money?"

Dan gave a small smile. "Before we moved to San Francisco when I was little, we really didn't have much, I wasn't kidding about that. But my father got a good job here after he had completely healed up from the injury I told you about yesterday. I was just a little bit younger than Jessie is now when we moved, and the first couple of years I was in public school. Mom finished up her schooling and got a part-time position at a private elementary school, so I was able to attend there for free, so that's where it got started. Mom and Dad saw how I was thriving in that environment, getting good grades, and summer camp was a reward of sorts for getting good grades. Plus I think for Dad it was a way to make up for the fact that his job here took more time away from Mom and me, but I've never talked to him about it – I didn't want him to feel like I was ever mad at him about it, I understood it a lot more than they realized I think, growing up. We needed the money. By the time junior high came along, we were doing fairly well. Not rich by any means, but we were doing all right for ourselves, didn't have to worry about being able to pay the bills or make the mortgage. And my Aunt Betty and Uncle Roy wanted to help out too, so they chipped in to help pay for my schooling from junior high all the way through high school so I could stay in private school. Help keep it from being too much of a strain on my folks." Dan smiled then, but Mike thought he could see a bit of sadness hiding in Dan's eyes. "I think they saw me as a son in a way, not just a nephew. Their two sons, my cousins, they're a few years older than me."

"They saw you as their youngest in some ways?" Mike asked, resisting the urge to press any further than that. Whatever he thought he was seeing in Dan's eyes was a story that could wait for another day, if and when his partner felt like sharing it.

"Yeah, I think so. I think they think of Jessie as their granddaughter in some ways too, not just their great-niece. They've always been like that ever since I can remember, lots of love to give. Mom and Dad are just like them." Dan smiled, watching as Jessica carefully carried a plate of sugar cookies over to them, Karen, Steve and Jeannie following behind her with drinks for everyone. "Sugar cookies are ready?"

Jessica nodded happily, a few crumbs on her red turtleneck shirt providing ample evidence that she had already sampled the sweet treats. "Aunt Jeannie makes _real_ sugar cookies, not like the hockey pucks that Grandma Leslie makes. You can eat these!"

"Jessica!" Karen exclaimed, but Mike was quick to notice the smile the girl's mother was struggling not to show. He also spied a similar look on Dan's face. "You shouldn't talk about Grandma's cookies like that, you know that."

"But that's what Grandpa Fred called them this morning, hockey pucks," Jessica answered, taking a cookie from the plate. "He told me that when he took me to the swimming pool and showed me how to skip them across the water! Daddy, what's a hockey puck?"

Mike wasn't sure how his partner managed it, but somehow Dan managed not to choke on the cookie he was eating and answered his little girl's questions about hockey, why it was played on ice, and if her Grandpa Fred a hockey player or not. Steve jumped into the conversation at points to help with the explanations, which lead to questions about football and baseball, but Mike wasn't quite sure how they got onto those topics, especially since in the middle of everything Jessica had decided to start making a scarf for "Uncle Steve" with her new knitting toy. "My mother isn't the best cook in the world," Karen explained softly, having made her way over to Mike's side as Jeannie joined the now four-way conversation, which had somehow veered over to tigers and Jessica wanting to pet one. "And I'm afraid Jessica is right – Mom's cookies are as hard as rocks. Always have been. It's the reason why they eat out so much, and tend to have big meals like today catered. They've got a cook, Grace, but they always give her the holidays off so she can spend time with her family." Karen gave a pained smile then. "My folks… Sometimes they can get treating others who aren't as wealthy as them right. Grace has been with them for several years now, and one thing they won't tolerate is someone looking down on her. Why they can't do that with everybody all the time…" Karen trailed off, laughing softly as she and Mike watched Jessica instruct Steve on why the color yarn he was holding wouldn't work for the scarf she was going to make for him, because that was going to be the color for her father's scarf. "When did Steve and Jeannie go from Mister and Miss to Uncle and Aunt?"

Mike grinned. "Somewhere around Jessica's second helping of turkey that Steve was helping her get, I think. Never thought I'd see the day when Steve would be sitting on the floor, talking about yarn." Mike turned and smiled at Karen, who was taking a couple of pictures of Steve attempting to roll some yarn into a ball with Jeannie's help, while Jessica had grabbed her book to get Dan to read her 'T'was The Night Before Christmas', the making of a scarf for Steve forgotten in the excitement of having her father with her on Christmas Day. "That's a special little girl you've got there."

Karen smiled and nodded. "Our little miracle," she agreed. "As soon as Bob gets home, she'll have him wrapped up in yarn too." The young woman sighed then, and smiled at Mike gratefully. "Thank you so much for this. Inviting us over," she started, then motioned over to Jessica and Dan, as Jessica's eyes started to droop, listening to her father's gentle voice as he read the story to her. "Jessica and Dan finally getting to see each other again, on Christmas Day like they've both wanted for so long… Mr. Stone, I don't know how I can repay you for this."

"Start by calling me Mike," the detective replied with a warm, understanding smile. "And if you don't mind, I'd like it if Jessica continues to call me Uncle Mike."

"Done," Karen readily agreed, then walked over to Dan to take the book from him as Steve helped him to carefully stand up with the now sleeping Jessica. Jeannie directed Dan to put the little girl in her room, opening the bedroom door for him, while Steve and Karen carefully packed up the forgotten knitting toy and yarn. Mike watched the young people softly carry on a conversation, no one wanting to wake up Jessica anytime soon; the seven year old had had a very exciting day and had worn herself out completely. The closeness between Steve and Jeannie was plain to see, and he wondered when they would finally let him know about this change in their relationship. He was also pleased to see the new friendship between them and Karen Watson. He liked the young woman, and while a part of him wished things had worked out between her and Dan, he understood all too well the reasons why they hadn't stayed together, and why it was better with the way things had worked out. Karen had found Bob, who sounded like a very fine man. _Maybe one day Dan will find the right woman_, he mused, once again watching the interaction between his daughter and Steve. _Just like Steve and Jeannie seem to have finally found each other after all this time. _

Mike wasn't sure how long he had watched the young people talk, occasionally tossing a comment into the conversation himself, but suddenly he realized that Dan hadn't come back out from taking Jessica into Jeannie's bedroom. Quietly excusing himself, Mike made his way to the bedroom and peeked in. There, sound asleep on the bed was Jessica, and sitting on the floor still holding his daughter's hand and just as sound asleep was Dan, his head resting on his arm. Mike softly chuckled and leaned in the doorway, enjoying the little scene. There would be many more Christmases after this one, many more times where Dan would get to put his daughter to bed before she would feel like she was too old for either of her parents to tuck her in at night or for a nap, and every single one of those moments would be precious for Dan, Karen and Bob as well. But this moment right now was all Dan's, and one that had been well worth the wait.

"Merry Christmas Daniel," Mike whispered as he silently closed the bedroom door. "And many happy years to come for you all."


End file.
